The Glass Slipper
by MKAngelus
Summary: The Cinderella story of a boy and a girl in high school and how their lives entwine. It was moved from another site to here due to content.
1. Chapter 1 thru 52

**The Glass Slipper**

**Chapter 1**

"DUDE-did you Daisy? SHE WAS HOT MAN!" Fischer leaned over and nudged Seeley's arm, "Dude-what are you looking at? The cheerleaders are that way!" he grabbed the back of Seeley Booths head and turned it towards the 11 girls in front of them.

"Man-I'd love to be a part of that pyramid" Wendell said laughing. "I'd love to be on the bottom layer" hi-fiving Fischer he laughed and took a swig of the Texas Rose in the paper bottle they had.

Seeley, although there to watch the girls practice too; wasn't as interested in the bottle being passed around. He'd seen what alcohol could do first hand and would rather just avoid it. His friends were used to it and just left him out of the loop. Too be honest, they were lucky to even be around him, without him their days of scoring the hot girls would be numbered. There wasn't a girl at St. Agnes who didn't want to have Seeley Booth on their arm. Who wouldn't, all star running back for the football team and the best left wing in 5a hockey for the entire state of PA; plus with the movie star good looks and aw shucks demeanor, he was the hottest guy in school hands down. Looking down towards the girls Seeley wasn't surprised to see Payton's eyes focused solely on him. While performing her routine she was making each move specific to him, a sort of promise of things to come.

"You couldn't score that with my stick" Seeley said to his buddy with a grin, and joined in with their banter.

"No-but I'd sure give it a try" Fischer said with a laugh. Back to watching the girls and trying to figure out the rest of the evening's plans and who would go where and with whom, Seeley drifted out of the conversation again. The whole stake out the cheerleader, find a house party or an empty car routine every Friday was wearing thin for him. He felt like if he didn't participate he wasn't living up to his reputation, but if he did participate there was a small feeling like he was missing something better. His Pops had taught him how to behave around women and for the most part he did. Girls like Payton though? That was a whole 'nother story. She wouldn't think twice about ditching him for the next pretty boy that came along. He knew it, she knew it, but still they played the game. Him; the big man on campus, her, the queen.

Looking back at the girls from staring across the field, he wasn't surprised that she saw he wasn't watching her PG13 leaning towards NC17 performance. I'm going to pay for that tonight he thought. "Seeley, so do you have Pops car tonight? ALLLLL night?" Wendell asked with a knowing leer.

"Yeah-I just have to pick Jare up from little league practice at 7 and then I'm home free" what did you guys have in mind tonight? Wanna hit the ice and go a couple of one on ones?" he asked.

"Ummm no, no thanks, I want to see if Daisy is always that flexible!" Fischer said, hi fiving Wendell again. Wendell said, "Yeah-I think she said she and Caroline are going to be 'free' tonight if you know what I mean."

"Well, I'm sure Payton will want to do something too" Seeley smirked. In fact he knew she would. The three girls were never more than 3 feet from each other or their cell phones to be able to text, talk and twitter together. If Caroline and Daisy were going out, than that meant Payton was, which meant that Seeley was too. Seeley's phone began to ring, "you got the BMOC-tell me what you got and I'll tell you what I know" he answered, "Shrimp? This is Pops; did you remember you said you'd pick Jared up from practice tonight?

"Yeah Pops-I remember and I'm leaving the field here in a few minutes to do that, Pops do you need me to stay tonight?" hoping that he would say yes, Seeley knew his friends would be disappointed and he'd really catch hell from Ms. Payton Perotta but he didn't really want to go out and using his Pops as an excuse wouldn't be that bad, his buddies wouldn't dare say anything.

"No-Shrimp, you go have fun with your friends tonight, just don't be out too late ok? You have practice in the morning and I don't want you to miss that" his grandfather responded chuckling. "Drive safe, okay kid?"

"Okay Pops, I will, see you soon" Seeley hung up and looked at the time, 20 minutes before he had to get Jared.

Cheerleading practice was over and the girls were starting to disperse. "That's our cue man" Fischer said when the three girls broke apart from the pack. Looking up at them Payton crooked her finger at Seeley and made it no secret she was calling the shots. Seeley stood and stretched, knowing he would go down there but in the mood to make her wait for it, and to make her steam a little. He thought that Miss Thing needed to be reined in a little and for some reason tonight he was spoiling for it. Ah hell, who was he kidding; he'd been feeling a little resentful and nonchalant about their relationship for some time now. They'd been dating since freshman year and she had been picturing the ring and the white picket fence since they were sophomores. The University of Pittsburgh had already sent him the acceptance of his scholarship to play hockey there next year, and although it was going to be good, he thought maybe the white picket may wait. He'd been going to the Army recruitment offices and getting some information for a couple of months now. He hadn't told anyone, but thought he might just up and join. There had to be more than college, marriage and suburbia out there.

CHAPTER 2

Grabbing his buddy's arm and pushing the other one out of the way Seeley started down to the bottom of the bleachers. Just then he saw someone walk in front of the girls at the bottom and heard Payton say, "oh look its poor little Temperance…heading home, wait, she doesn't even have a home!" the other girls started to laugh at the girl walking by.

Her hair pulled back into a ponytail, wearing a jean jacket that was obviously too big for her and carrying a large pile of books, she never wavered just walked on by. Deciding that she wasn't getting the attention she so rightfully deserved, Payton trotted over and stopped in front of her. As always, her two wingmen went with her and surrounded the girl. "Where you going Tempe? To the library? Gonna hang out with the rest of the dorks and geeks tonight? No date, oh wait, who would want to go out with a nerd like you?" she said scathingly.

"Please let me by" came the muffled response as the girl kept her head down.

"What?" Daisy said reaching over and grabbing the top book out of her arms, "Ethics for Anthropological Research and Practice" she read the title, "What the hell is that?" throwing the book down on the ground and stepping on it she leaned in to grab another book just as Caroline and Payton also reached to grab some. Disrupting the weight distribution in her arms, all the books went crashing to the ground. Temperance bent down to get them, just as she did, her notebook also fell from her hand and papers went everywhere. Not knowing whether to get the papers or the books first, she lunged at the closest thing she could reach. Stepping back and laughing the three girls didn't try to help at all, in fact were doing their best to scatter the papers more.

Seeley ran the rest of the steps down the bleachers and trotted over to the girls, "Payton-knock it off" he told her firmly, reaching down to pick up some papers. "Guys-grab those papers, now" he told his friends, "no way man, I'm not helping to do that I want to go," Wendell said.

"Pick them up or you can take Caroline home on your bicycle," Seeley said with no patience.

Fischer and Wendell gathered the rest of the papers while the girls just stood and laughed at them, chasing them in the slight breeze, both of them more than a little tipsy. Meanwhile, Seeley had gone over to the girl and seeing that she had most of the books gathered up, but was struggling to stand, offered to help her up. Looking up at him he was mesmerized by the most brilliant blue eyes he had ever seen in his 18 years. What made them so bright was the shine of tears and hurt in them. Standing up without his help, she reached out slightly for her notebook, seeing that she was just going to drop the books again, he picked it up and took the papers from his friends who had managed to get them all, dirty, ripped and stained, but all of them. He put them in the notebook and handed it to her, "I'm sorry-"he said, "Do you need some help carrying them?" he asked, his hand on her arm.

"Please just let me by" was all she said. Still looking at the ground he barely heard her.

"Are you sure?" he asked again, "I can help carry them to your car or something?" he trailed off, not even sure if she had a car, or even what grade she was in.

"I'm fine, thank you" she said in a whisper, "I just want to go please." Temperance looked up again and into his eyes. He saw the wounded pride in them and stepped aside telling her he was sorry again.

Temperance walked away quickly, her head bent down and her too large jacket blowing around her hips from the breeze.

"What a loser" Payton said, "She's in my Biology class, and is supposed to be wicked smart but she never says a word, just sits there with this dumb scared little mouse expression." Rolling her eyes, she turned back to her man and put her hand on his arm, "Seeley-you're too nice you know, one of these days some girl is going to take advantage of that you know…"she said with a wink at her two partners in crime. "Payton-you're a bitch" he said, "and I hope you can figure out a way to get home tonight, I have to get my brother" looking at the shocked expressions on all of them he told his buddies that he was going to bail on them tonight after all. "Seeley Booth you better realize who you are talking to" Payton yelled at his retreating form as he walked away, "You can't talk to me like that!" she screeched.

"Looks like I just did Payton" he said walking backwards and then turning to jog after the girl with the books.

"Well-that sucks" Fischer said, "now what?"

Caroline called her mom and was able to get permission to borrow her car, so the group was still able to go out, which was all they were concerned with anyway."What about me?" Payton whined, "I don't want to go unless I have someone too." The girls tried to figure out a way to include her without Seeley and when she just got madder and madder they decided that they would just all go to her house and the guys would go home.

"Damn Seeley-and his knight in shining armor complex" Wendell grumbled as he and Fischer started walking home, "I had PLANS for tonight you know?"

"Yeah man, I know, believe me I know" Fischer sighed, "I was really looking forward to the end of the night-dammit".

CHAPTER 3

Booth jogged up behind the girl and then past her, turning to stop in her way he said, "Hey-I'm sorry about all that, are you okay?" Temperance stopped short and looked up at him. "I'm fine" she said quietly. "Well, I have to go get my little brother from little league practice, but I can be a little late if you need or want a ride somewhere?" he tried again to get her to look up at him, but she just shook her head and said, "I'm fine, thank you". She began to walk around him again, "Wait-hold on" he said grabbing the sleeve of her coat, "I'm not like those guys; I don't mind taking you home?"

Temperance looked at him and said in a level voice, "Your name is Seeley Booth, you're the best hockey player in the state, you're the starting running back for St. Agnes High School, you were Jr. Homecoming King and you are on the student council" he looked at her and saw a small fire burning in her eyes, "I don't need a ride home-you don't even know my name, and I bet you can't even tell me what grade I'm in" she finished, "you're exactly like them-so thank you for getting my papers back, but I don't want a ride home" and squaring her small shoulders she hitched up the bag on her shoulder and walked around him.

The wind came up a little faster and a few drops of rain started to fall as Seeley watched her walk away-he saw her hitch up a little in the jacket and watched a stray piece of paper fly out of the notebook. She didn't notice it and he reached out to grab it as it blew by, dancing lightly above the ground. Holding it in his hands he watched her until she had passed by the gym and was out of sight. He looked down at the paper and saw it was a flyer advertising a lecture by Dr. Nigel-Murray with the National Anthropological society next Saturday afternoon at the main lecture hall of the University of Pittsburgh. Seeley absently stuck the paper in his jacket pocket and turning towards the parking lot he decided he had better beat feet, his brother was going to be mad having to wait in the rain, and then his Pops would be upset too.

The next day at practice, Coach Hodgins was brutal. He'd had them running the same drill for over an hour. Apparently he noticed that some of the boys were working on less than 100% and he was punishing them all for it. Seeley, while in excellent shape was starting to show the fatigue of running for 50 yard bursts over and over. While standing in line waiting for his group to start the next sprint, and breathing raggedly, he said to Fischer and Wendell, "thanks a lot jerk-off's, this is all your fault-next time you get drunk and show up late for practice, make sure you don't suck us all into it, okay?"

"Whatever Seeley-you're just ticked off because you didn't get any from Payton last night, and since she's sitting in the stands right now, you know you're gonna get an earful when this is all over!" Wendell said, stepping up to the hash mark now that it was their turn to run again.

"Quit your yapping over there girls" Coach Hodgins said, "Unless you want to make them 75 sprints?" a collective groan could be heard throughout the boys. "Yes coach" they chorused, focused on making the best of the running situation. Thirty minutes later, Coach called an end to practice and gathered up the team. "Boys-if you think you are going to be able to skate through the next game you are out of your mind-Zack Addy has the highest passing percentage in 5a football right now, and with Clark Edison leading their team in rushing, there is nothing to take lightly. This team is prepared to win, and you all look like you are barely alive, better pick up the pace boys or you'll be watching the State Championships from the bleachers" with that he dismissed them to the locker room.

"Seeley-come here" he said as the guys trotted off the field.

"Yeah coach," he said towering over the shorter man, "what's up?"

"Seeley-I wanted to tell you that AD Hacker told me that you had gotten a scholarship to the U, and that's all well and good, but he said that you hadn't been in to talk to Dr. Saroyan about career counseling or anything yet. What's going on? Any problems at home? It's your senior year Seeley, you better be making some firm decisions, or you are going to be making some big mistakes-do you understand what I'm telling you?" the coach rarely spoke so bluntly to the players, but he did really try to do the best he could by the majority of them. "You've got a gift kid, you're a much better athlete than those two Neanderthals you hang around with, I hope you aren't letting them drag you down?"

"No coach, I'll go talk to Dr. S on Monday and get some information" Seeley told his coach, "I won't let you down."

"It's not me I'm worried about Mr. Booth-it's you" he said, "Now go, it looks like there is a little blonde over there that wants to monopolize a little of your time, but try not to let her get too much of it, okay?" the coach, slapped him on the butt with a grin and walked towards where his assistants were gathering up equipment.

"Yes coach" Seeley said grabbing his helmet and unenthusiastically heading toward the bleachers and the butt chewing he was going to get from Payton.

**Chapter 4**

Temperance Brennan walked into her favorite place in the world. The Natural Museum of History located in the historic district of Pittsburgh. Nodding a hello and giving a slight wave to Russ, the security guard at the door she quickly made her way through the people attempting to get in line for the next tour. Russ smiled and blushed slightly as he waved back. She'd always liked him, he would sometimes come have lunch with her on the weekends, they had a lot in common; both of them were alone in the world. Although, he had been seeing the gift shop girl, Amy for a couple of months and seemed like he was pretty happy.

Stowing her things in the employee locker room, Tempe felt like she was truly home. She was so lucky to work here she thought, it's the best place I can think of. Even though it hardly paid anything, she still felt like she was a millionaire spending her days doing what she loved. She hoped that someday she would be able to spend all of her time in a museum and never have to worry about the outside world crashing in. Getting her smock on and turning to grab the gloves and stuff she would need to help clean the exhibits, Tempe was pleasantly stunned when her best friend, Angela came in with yet another color of hair and what looked like a new earrings as well. "So-Temper-What's up Sweetie?" Ange said taking off her jacket to reveal a white tank top and teal bra combo that Tempe actually envied her the ability to wear.

Angela called herself an artist and was never shy about displaying her art wherever and whenever she wanted, today with her pink highlights in her naturally brown hair she looked like a shiny jewel. "Any new stuff I need to know about at St. Agony HS?" she teased. Angela had completed her GED while traveling through Europe. She said she had learned more that way and was able to absorb her education rather than being force fed it. Of course, her dad was a multi platinum recording artist and she had had an interesting childhood all the way around. Angela was currently one of the tour guides, and although slightly unorthodox, she was by far the crowds favorite, often getting a lot of people to come back more than once a month. She liked to "tweak" the facts of the exhibits, sometimes to elicit a crowd response and other times just for her own amusement.

"No", Tempe said, "same thing as always, although I think Payton Perotta makes it her personal mission to attack me every time she sees me" she smiled glumly at her friend. "Want me to beat her up for you? Remove those blonde bimbo curls with a razor?" Angela asked putting on her smock as well.

"I don't think so, thank you though," Tempe was momentarily stopped by the memory of whiskey brown eyes set in a concerned face. "Eventually I have to graduate and she will go off and make 2.5 kids and drive a mini-van that will be punishment enough!" Tempe rarely made jokes and when she did it always made Angela love her even more, "Good thought kiddo-have a good day" she said as she danced out of the break room onto the main floor.

Tempe gathered the rest of the things she needed and headed up the back stairwell to the exhibit employee entrances, from here, she would be able to wander behind the exhibits, encased in glass and explore all the smells and textures without being disturbed. She liked the anonymity cleaning the exhibits presented and since they were closed and cleaned on a rotating basis she didn't have to deal with tourists and kids pointing and making faces at her. When she had first started and they explained what she would be doing she had this disturbing mental image of being like a monkey in the zoo, having to clean while people were watching. Shaking her head of the cobwebs that threatened to intercede, she got to work.

Temperance had been working steadily for a couple of hours when she heard a man singing slightly off key, "I've been thinkin' 'bout All the times you held me I never heard you shout The flow of energy was so fine Now I think I'll lay it on the line And keep on tryin' To get home to you", coming into her line of sight Tempe saw Max, her favorite scientist from the museums working ward. "There's my girl" he said, stopping his song and smiling, his expressive face alight with pleasure at seeing her there. "How are you today my dear?" he asked spinning her around.

"I'm fine Max, how are you?" she giggled like a little kid when he spun her out and pulled her back in close for a hug. "Well, now that I've seen you, my life is complete" he winked.

Max had taken a liking to the studious girl right away and loved to tease her. He thought she needed more teasing in her life. Unlike the rest of the student help the museum had, she had the spark, that girl is going to go places he had always thought. Over time he had gotten to the point of inviting her down to his lab to see experiments or discuss they why's and how's of things. She was always a lively debate partner and wise long beyond her years. Although he only had a barest understanding of her home situation he never pressed her for details, instead allowing her to tell him what she wanted when she wanted. For her part Tempe thought Max was the closest thing to her own father she had ever found. Her foster father certainly never engaged her in conversation more stimulating than to shout at her for not doing the dishes correctly or vacuuming wrong or a million other things he imagined she did wrong on a regular basis. If I could have picked a father beside my own, I would choose Max, Tempe often thought.

"Why are you up here, stuck behind glass like one of these stuffy old exhibits?" Max asked her pulling out an apple and beginning to pare it up, offering her a slice he sat down on an old crate stacked there for a million visitors to see in the western themed display. "Well-in order for me to pay for a car so that I can go to college so that I can graduate so that I can someday sing and dance in a museum, I must clean" she responded somewhat seriously and again, slightly wistfully. Taking the apple, she also sat down on a crate and looked up at the older man. "Ahh…the pursuit of transportation, always a valiant struggle" he responded cutting off another piece of apple. "I came up here to find you, and see if you would like to come down and see the fabulous new box of goodies I just received from the Jeffersonian? It's a whole box of bones from a soldier in the bronze age, I was going to start reconstructing it this afternoon" knowing that she could barely resists bones he figured she'd jump at the chance to assist. "Of course, after your shift is over" he corrected, "I don't want you to get in trouble".

As much as she really wanted to help him she knew that today she wouldn't be able to stay late, she had to help her foster mom later on to clean for a party they were throwing for their friends tomorrow night.

"I wish I could Max" she said with a heavy sigh, but I have to help Rebecca clean this evening, her and Lance are having some sort of party tomorrow for his friends from work." never wishing she was by herself and out from under the thumb of her foster parents more than right then.

"Well, maybe next time then" he said getting off the crate and offering her the last piece of apple, "Don't stay up here too much longer little girl, life is for living not for envying-okay?" with a wink he walked out of the exhibit and left her to get back to work. She's finished this exhibit and since there wasn't enough time to start another one and get it finished before the end of her shift, she thought she go down and see what fantastic tales Angela was regaling the tourists with today.

After getting out of her uniform and a inhaling her meager little lunch, she went out into the museum proper and joined the tail end of the tourist line. The managers didn't mind, Tempe was a very hard worker and so they allowed her to join in and help wherever she could if there was a need. Listening to Angela bring some romance and whimsy to the medieval exhibit in front of her, she smiled when Angela got to the part about the knight slaying the dragon to rescue the fair maiden. Wrapping up the story, the crowd gave her a round of applause as she bowed low and thanked them for coming along on her tour.  
"You know there are no such things as dragon's right?" Tempe asked her as they made their way back to the break room. "Just because there is no evidence of something doesn't mean it never existed Sweetie," she responded. "Actually, that's the very definition right there Angela" Tempe laughed.

Grabbing her arm Angela pulled her aside and said in a very slow stage whisper, "Hey hon, don't look now but there are some fish out of water if I ever saw them" pointing to the four guys that had just come in to the main hall. Looking where her friend had indicated Temperance saw Seeley and Jared Booth and two other guys from their school, Tim Sullivan and Wendell Bray.

"I wonder what they are doing here?" she asked Angela, "I doubt any of them have ever been here before" she finished sarcastically. Looking at her friend Angela saw a little gleam of interest in Tempe's eyes directed to the elder Booth boy. Deciding she was going to have a little fun, she half dragged and half shoved Temperance over to the boys.

"Welcome to the Natural History Museum gentleman," she said carefully maneuvering Tempe closest to Seeley, "my name is Angela and this is Temperance, is there something we can help you find?"

Jared Booth looked at the two girls and blushed, clearing his throat he said, "I have to finish my report on modern war weapons versus ancient ones. Is there some sort of brochure or something I can have to add to it?" he stammered, mesmerized by the glimpse of the taller girls teal bra peeking out from her tank top.

"Right this way my good man" Angela said looping her arm through his and giving a twitch to her hips, "you two can come too?" nodding at the other boys standing with them. She left Seeley and Tempe standing awkwardly alone by the main desk.

**CHAPTER 5**

"Um, hello again", he said looking down at her, "I didn't know you worked here"

"Yes-I do, and I have to get back to work now actually" she started to turn away to leave.

"Wait" he said, stopping her, "I just wanted to tell you again that I was sorry for what happened yesterday at school"

"It's not your fault how other people behave, but thank you" and she was gone.

Seeley watched her walk away, expertly dodging the tourists and kids and exhibits with a natural grace. He was trying hard to get a full breath out his lungs; she had the most amazing blue eyes and was so pretty. Much prettier than Payton. Thinking of Payton, he'd decided he better go hurry Jared along so he could get home and get changed, they were going to have another one of their "talks" tonight. More often than not when Payton wanted to "talk" it meant that he was going to listen to her tell him how great their life was and that he was on thin ice and how he had better stop taking her for granted. They would also most likely end the night the same way, he would apologize, she would forgive and they would have sex in his car. It was becoming so routine he wondered when he was going to get tired of it enough to tell her to leave him alone for good. Putting his hands in his pocket, he looked again towards where Tempe had disappeared and then started off to find his brother and friends.

Leaving the museum with the star struck boys in tow, Seeley noticed Temperance walking towards the bus stop. Her too big jacket flapping in the breeze again, he wondered where she was going and what she was going to do that night.

Later that night, Seeley and Payton were sprawled on a blanket on the ground. Lazily stroking her back he was thinking of another girl altogether while Payton prattled on and on about something. He'd been making non committal grunts of acknowledgement as she talked when she suddenly stopped speaking and stared at him. Not noticing the silence right away was the wrong move. "Have you been listening to me?" she asked angrily. "I've been talking for the past 20 minutes and I bet you have no idea what I was saying.

"You were talking about the winter formal and the dresses and stuff weren't you?" he asked yanking his mind back to the present. He found himself staring into her angry face. "Yes-it's the last formal before senior prom and I think we should all go in matching colors, you and me, Daisy and Wendell and Caroline and Fischer. We want to rent a limo too" she added "one of the big private ones" winking; she slid her hand down his thigh. Reaching down to move her hand, he said, "I don't know, that's a lot of money and what will we do at prom if we take a limo to _this_ dance, do we even have to go to this dance?" he asked already dreading her answer.

"Um, yes, we HAVE to go to this dance, hello; we've been the Winter Queen and King for the past 3 years, so I think we have to. Geez Seeley, I don't know where your mind has been lately, but it seems like all the things that were important to us no longer matter anymore-what's going on?" She asked petulantly, "Are you seeing someone else?" anger blazed in her eyes.

"No Pay-I'm not seeing anyone else" he said, thinking I would like to though. "Hey listen, it's getting late, I better get you home."

"Late? It's only 9 Seeley, curfew isn't until 1AM!" Payton slid over on top of him and began to kiss his chest and up to his chin, "let's stay here and 'talk'" she said suggestively.

"I think I'm talked out Payton," Seeley said, sliding out from under her and pulling his jeans on. "I'm going to take you home, so let's get dressed."

When Payton saw that no amount of taunting and tempting her with her wiles was going to change his mind, she got dressed in a fit of pique. She refused to speak to him on the drive home and he gave up after a few attempts. Fine by me he thought, I don't want to deal with you anyway. Dropping her at her house, he didn't get out to open the door or walk her up the driveway, as she clearly expected him too. Leaning in towards him through the open window she said in a very controlled voice, "Don't mess with me Seeley Booth, there are hundreds of guys dying to be in the position you are in right now." Slamming the car into Park, Seeley got out of the car and stalked around, he pushed her up against the car and told her, "Than go get one Payton, I'm done. I'm done with you, with us and with this whole little game you like to play, you're mean, you're ignorant and you think that all you have to do is crook your little finger and I'll come running. Well, guess what little girl, I'm done being your punching bag and I'm moving on-oh, and if I were you, I'd do a little more time in the gym and a little less time lunching with the rest of your coven" he added as a mean afterthought. Watching her run up the walk and slam the door, Seeley felt bad for being deliberately cruel to her, he wasn't raised like that. He had just had enough of ultimatums and idle threats.

**Chapter 6 **

Deciding he was going to do something he had never done before, he headed over to the Museum. Wondering if she would even be there, he had no idea what time she got off, but it was the only thing he could think of. He knew her last name was Brennan, but didn't know the last name of her foster parents, so he couldn't look her in the phone book. By the time he got there, it was 9:15 and the parking lot was mostly deserted. Seeing a group of people clustered by the three remaining cars, Seeley drove over there and recognized Angela, rolling down his window, he stopped by them, "Hey!-Angela- remember me?" She turned at the unfamiliar car and voice and then broke into a beaming smile, "Yeah-hot guy number one, what's shaking?" she asked leaning into the window.

"Uh.." now that she was here he was at a loss for words, this girl was something, he thought, "I was wondering if you could give me Temperance's phone number?" he said trying to avoid the necklace and what it was resting on, which from this angle is exactly where his eyes were drawn.

"Temperance?-You want Tempe's phone number? She asked warily always protective of her friend, "Why?"

"I want to see if she would like to go out with me sometime" he said, "Is that okay?" he wasn't picking up a friendly vibe anymore. "Tempe doesn't have a phone number to give" she said, "and I wouldn't give it to you unless she said it was okay anyway. Her foster parents won't let her have phone calls from anyone, let alone the BMOC from St. Agony HS-sorry kid."

"What do you mean? She has to have a phone-everybody has a phone!"

"The only phone she has is the one that Lance and Rebecca Sweets own, there is no way they are going to let her use it-I tried to buy her a cell phone and told her she could hide it if she had to, but she was so scared they would find it that she just said no." Angela spent the next couple of minutes outlining the Sweets household and just exactly where in the equation Temperance Brennan fit. "You could say she's the 'step-daughter' of fairy tale fame" she finished.

"How do you get a hold of her?" he asked.

"Well, one of two things, actually; I have the museum call her for me-the Sweets can't say no because they've been in trouble with the state for not allowing her to earn some college credits by working here, so they always let her talk to them and I get a her a message that way, or, she listens to KBRG 91.6 in the evenings between 10-11pm without fail and we have a code. I'll request a song that means something and then she'll request one back to let me know she got it. One song means meet me, one means call me when you can, and one means I'm thinking of you. It's pretty hokey, but so far no one has caught on and this way she gets to interact with her friends here at the museum when she isn't here."

He asked her to request the 'call me when you can' song and tell her that he wanted to talk to her at school on Monday. "Please tell her not to be scared, I just want to talk to her" he asked Angela.

"Okay" Angela said, "I'll tell her, but don't think that is going to change anything. Temperance doesn't trust very many people and if you hurt her, believe me I know people, very big people and I will make sure you never, ever forget what messing with Angela Montenegro is all about-you understand?" she leaned back down into the car, and from the fire blazing in her eyes, he knew she could do it to. Re-assuring the fiery girl that all he wanted to do was talk to her, he gave her his number just in case she heard back from Tempe, "call me anytime, day or night", he said, "I'll leave the phone on."

"Okay, BMOC-I'll give it a shot" she said as she walked over to her own car and said goodbye.

**CHAPTER 7 ***

"**OKAY OKAY IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN EVERYBODY-IT'S GORDON GORDON'S REQUEST HOUR, GET 'EM IN FAST GET 'EM IN HARD AND GET 'EM OUT SATISFIED THAT'S OUR MOTTO-THE REQUEST LINE IS OPEN!"**

Hearing the familiar British accent announcing the best part of her night Tempe plugged in her headphones so that her foster parents wouldn't hear the radio. There was a strict rule that after lights out at 9 there was to be no radio or anything in this room. Not that there was anything besides the radio in the sparsely furnished room, a couple of personal items she had carried from home to home, some books and her small cache of school uniforms; there was nothing really else in there. A bed, small desk and dresser made up the rest of the décor. The only things that she would ever regret losing was a picture of her and her brother and their parents, a small plastic pig Angela had given her and a little silver dolphin charm Max had given her when she had worked for the museum for an entire year. She also had a hairbrush that had belonged to her mom and her jean jacket. That had belonged to her brother. She wore it year round, and kept her very personal items in it, her silver charm, pig and headphones. She always felt like he was wrapped around her, protecting her from the world when she wore it.

"**THE FIRST REQUEST OF THE NIGHT IS IN… AND IT IS FROM THE LOVELY ANGEL…CALL ME BY BLONDIE!"**

The familiar music and lyrics started and Temperance was surprised, Angela wasn't typically the first one through, if anything, she called later in the show because it was easier for Tempe to use the phone that late at night. Quietly creeping out of bed, she went to her door and opened it as silently as she could and only wide enough so that she could see if it was dark in the hall. If the light was off than the odds were pretty good that Lance and Rebecca were in bed. Looking both ways down the hall, the lights were off and their door was closed. Staying to the outside of the hallway where the floor wouldn't creek, Tempe crept to the phone alcove and dialed the familiar number, getting through early in the show was going to be tricky she thought. Tonight however, the spirits were on her side and the first call went straight to the DJ, "GORDON GORDON HERE WHAT CAN I PLAYA FORYA?" he hustled in her ear…barely speaking above a whisper, she said, " Would you play I GOT THE MESSAGE by ZZ TOP?"

"**GLAD TO MISSY, THIS MUST BE THE BONE LADY? AM I RIGHT?" **

"Yes-it's me, thank you" she hung up quickly and went back to her room. She and Angela had been using this system for over a year and the DJ was used to them calling and requesting the same songs. Most of the time he never even had to ask who it was. She felt close to him somehow, like maybe he could tell something about her from that minor interaction. Although she tried hard not to believe in gut feelings and intuition, something about the anonymous DJ made her feel comforted.

"**GOT ANOTHER SONG ON THE HOOK FOR ALL YOU PEOPLE IN RADIO LAND COMING FROM THE BONE LADY IT'S I GOT YOUR MESSAGE FROM ZZ TOP…"**

The next morning Rebecca said that she was going to the grocery store to get supplies for the party, she told Temperance to make sure that the kitchen was spotless by the time she got back. She told her that Lance had gone to the golf course early and would not be happy if he came home and it was not done. Nodding to her foster mom, Temperance waited anxiously until she heard the garage door close. Hurrying to the phone, she dialed Angela's phone, hoping that she would be up this early.

"hellooo? Oh- this better be somebody famous or hot…" Angela's sleepy voice picked up on the 3rd ring. "Ange-it's Tempe, what's up?"

"Oh Temper-I'm so glad you called" she immediately launched into the reason for her song choice, "okay so you remember the 4 hotties that came in to the museum yesterday, the younger one wanted that brochure? Well, the one that stayed to talk to you, he cornered me in the museum parking lot last night. I'd gone back to meet Amy and Russ for drinks, and"-

"Are you okay?" Tempe interrupted, "did he hurt you?"

"Oh god no Sweetie, he wanted to talk to you! He was insistent that I give him your phone number, well obviously that isn't going to happen with Mr. and Mrs. Hitler so I promised him that I would get you a message" She said, pausing to yawn, "he asked me to tell you that he wanted to speak to you on Monday at school and not to be afraid, and Bren, he seemed sincere, I mean how many guys would ambush a girl in a museum parking lot just to talk to another girl, and speaking of which, I was looking GOOD last night and he didn't even bat an eye… I think you may have turned someone's head my shy little friend," she finished, obviously enjoying being the messenger.

"Well, I don't know why he would want to talk to me, he doesn't even know who I am" she said surprised. "Well, Temperance, maybe that's why he wants to talk to you, didja ever think of that?" Angela retorted.

Temperance heard the garage door opening and hastily told Angela thank you for the message and hung up-jumping up she ran to the sink and started the water running at the same time she was frantically wiping off the table and trying to put the lid on the jam at the same time. "Didn't your mother tell you to take care of this, this morning?" she heard from the man in the doorway.

"Yes sir-she did" Tempe whispered, her back to the man. "Well, I think that the least you can do is follow simple instructions, I mean, we clothe you, feed you, allow you multiple luxuries and freedoms, and for what, so you can disrespect us in our own home?" his voice was menacing and pounded on her like physical blows. Luckily he had never touched her, his verbal weapons were more damaging, he began to tell her how lucky she was to be there when no one obviously wanted her and how she was troubled and not worthy of adoption, his litany went on and on until Temperance was forced to pull out a happy memory from before her parents left to keep from crying. Crying would make him the victor, he would enjoy seeing her powerless and over the past year and a half she had gotten better at making him win the game less and less. Sometimes he still got through her defenses, but not as often. Finishing up with the dishes, she turned to the man and asked if she may be excused, she had to go to the library to work on her studies. Even though he was just getting revved up, the man acquiesced, after all today was an important day and he didn't want to get a sour stomach. This evening he had to be in tip top shape for the work party they were hosting. Letting her go get her things, he told her as she left, "make sure you are home by 5, you will be necessary to serve the guests."

"Yes sir" she said as she brushed past him to her room, to gather her books and bag. Getting dressed in her hand me down jeans and clean t-shirt she grabbed her things and left through the back door, heading to the library about three miles away. Even with the big dark clouds threatening rain, it was an unseasonably warm day, so still she had her jacket on; she needed it today.

**CHAPTER 8**

When she got to the library she sunk into her familiar and isolated chair with her books. The chair was back by the rear windows and was seldom ever used; as very few people came to the reference section of the library. She sat with her beloved Anthropology Quest book, written by the esteemed Aristoo Vaziri; and became enthralled with the various customs and curiosities of remote tribes in the Amazon jungle. She was particularly interested in this volume as Dr. Vaziri was going to be a guest speaker along with Dr. Nigel-Murray on Saturday.

Lost in the book, Tempe didn't realize it had started to rain and rather hard. Had she noticed, she would have known to leave a little early so that she could take the bus. Her alarm went off on her watch at 4pm and she looked up and outside at the pouring rain. Cursing a little she knew she was not going to be able to get home without being completely soaked, which would mean that she was going to catch hell when she got there. Loading her books up in her bag and pulling her jacket tight she went to the front door of the library hoping that the bus would be pulling in, after waiting for 10 precious minutes past the pickup time posted on the window of the bus stop, she began to walk home. She walked as fast as she could, avoiding puddles and the spray from passing cars. She was about 100 yards from her house and thought she would have a chance to make it and not be too overly wet when a car drove by and purposely nailed her with curb spray. She didn't see the driver, but recognized the car; it was a purple Audi and belonged to one Payton Perotta.

Great, just great, she thought, rushing the last few yards she tried in vain to get the dirty water off of her, while still avoiding the clean water from the sky. Rushing through the kitchen door and skidding on the linoleum, she went down hard and banged her forehead on the kitchen table. "Look what you've done!" Rebecca screamed at her and pointed to the streak of water across the floor, "get upstairs and get cleaned up and then come back down here, our guests will be here any minute. Honestly Temperance, you're worthless sometimes." Holding her head and cringing from the pain in her knee as she hurried up the stairs she went straight to her room, she grabbed a towel and dried her hair as quickly as she could. Taking the wet towel, she went to the bathroom and washed off the dried blood from the bump on her forehead and washed her hands. Changing her clothes, she noticed her knee was black already and very puffy. She dry swallowed two aspirins and headed downstairs to help make her foster dad's night the best it could be.

The next day she was woken up by the buzz of the alarm clock at 6am. Knowing that Lance and Rebecca were going to take the day off after their late night, she turned off the alarm immediately to avoid waking them up. Her whole body ached, her nose was stuffy and there was a huge bolt of pain in her knee when she tried to stand and walk to the bathroom. Looking at herself when she got in there she almost cried out. Her forehead had turned a lovely shade of blue and slightly red around the edges of the bruise, the shallow cut in the center looked like a cruelly drawn smile. Her eyes were puffy from lack of sleep; the party hadn't ended until well after 2 AM. Her sinuses were stuffed up and she could feel her chest was tight as well. Fabulous, now on top of looking like the bride of Frankenstein I'm getting a cold she thought getting into the shower. That actually proved to be pretty tricky as it was difficult to bend her knee. What a mess I am she thought, allowing the tears to fall. She worked so hard to keep them in that it shamed her when she let her guard down and actually cried. Halfway through the timed shower, Rebecca and Lance were sticklers for conservation; she remembered that Seeley Booth was going to try to talk to her today. Well, if that just doesn't make my day worse…getting out of the shower she did the best she could with her hair to cover the bruise and there was no getting rid of the circles.

Slowly she shuffled back to her bedroom to get the hated uniform on. She had asked for slacks when she first started at St. Agnes School and was told that she needed to wear the traditional uniform. So, the requisite plaid skirt and white knee socks, black loafers and white button down shirt with a plaid tie. Unfortunately, she had grown taller not wider, so although he skirt still fit her, it was a little shorter than she was comfortable with, but Rebecca refused to buy her any others as these all still fit. With the shiner on her forehead, the bruised and puffy knee, red nose and swollen eyes Temperance looked like a cross between a bad catholic school stereotype and Rocky Balboa's latest victim. Well, it's the best I can do she thought as she headed outside to wait for the bus to take her to school. It's only two more years of sheer hell before I graduate anyway right? She sighed.

Waiting for the bus she was glad to see that today looked like there wasn't going to be any rain that was a relief, which meant that she may be able to go read under the trees by the field. She tried to get out there as often as possible and with the incoming fall and winter weather, it looked like it was going to be harder and harder to do. She enjoyed being outside and although not particularly athletic herself, she did secretly like to watch the field scrimmages that went on at lunch. She liked watching both the girls and the boys practice and envied them their comfort and obvious skill at their various sports. She didn't understand any of the rules to them, and didn't know really what each one was, except for football. She knew a little about that game because her dad and brother had both been fans and she remembered watching the games with them. Plus, once she and Max had watched a college game in his office last fall. It was one of her favorite memories of the friendly museum scientist. His team had lost, but he had thoroughly enjoyed trying to make her understand the intricacies of the game. This, come to think of it is how she knew Seeley was a running back, couldn't tell you what that position entailed, but knew that's what he was.

School was the typical torture; sophomores weren't ranked high in the hierarchy of school. They were slightly better than the freshman, but we're more of a nuisance than anything to the other class levels. She usually just tried to make it from class to class without being seen and was pretty successful for the most part. Not today, it seemed everyone noticed her, either for her limp or her forehead, or the sneezing fit she had in the hallway where she dropped her books. No one offered to help her pick them up, instead just walked around her. Heading back to her locker to grab her history book and her lunch the bell rang signaling the class change for seniors. They were on a different schedule than the rest of the classes, and normally she could avoid them, but today with the bumps and bruises was a little too slow getting out of the hallway that they commandeered each day. "Well…looky looky" drawled a sarcastic voice, "looks like there's a sophomore who didn't know which way to go"

Turning her head to look, Temperance looked right into the eyes of Payton Perrota, who after her disastrous weekend was spoiling for a fight. "Oh my god!" she laughed, "look at you, what happened doll? What a train wreck!" Payton walked around her laughing and pointing, which caused the rest of the seniors to turn and see what all the commotion was. Feeling like she was suffocating Tempe just kept her head up and tried to squeeze by the crowd. However, the crowd was feeding off of Payton and wouldn't let her get past. "Well hon, what was it? Come on, you can tell mama Payton, what happened?"

"LET HER THROUGH" Seeley's voice was loud and clear and the crowd moved as one when he walked into the center where Payton was corralling Temperance up against the lockers. "Well Seeley Booth-looks like you are making a habit of rescuing misfits," Payton trilled, "might want to look into that, you might get the wrong kind of reputation" she finished smirking.

"Too late for that Payton, my reputation was ruined when I kept dating you" he said walking towards where Temperance was standing. The crowd all started to jeer and laugh and Payton threw her bag at him, barely missing. "You jerk! You'll pay for that!" she screamed at him, while Daisy and Caroline had arrived to keep their friend from doing any more damage. "Oh-I'm sure I will" he said over his shoulder. Carefully taking Tempe by the arm, he said, "Come on, let me help you get out of here" leading her down the hallway the crowd drifted to the sides to allow them easy passage.

Knowing that she wouldn't get out of there alone, she allowed him to lead her down the hall to the outside doors.

**Chapter 9**

Once they were outside, the warmth of the day and the incredibly bright sky momentarily disorientated Temperance, realizing abruptly that he was still holding her arm, she jerked back and blinked owlishly up at the tall boy. "Thanks again, I guess", she said, "If you aren't careful you really will get a reputation for saving the misfit toys."

Smiling down at her, he replied, "I don't mind, it wasn't that big of a deal-Payton is just mad because we broke up this past weekend and she hadn't had the chance to spin the 'poor me' web. I just announced to the entire senior class something she wasn't happy about."

"You broke up with Payton Perotta?" she squeeked, "wow-you really do have a death wish" she finished, "she's been after me for over a year and all I ever did was breathe her air, I can't imagine what she'll do to you."

He snorted and grinned, "I'll be fine, it's cute though that you're concerned"

Yanked back to reality for a moment, she blushed and said, "It's not that I'm concerned, just, well…um..Why did you want to talk to me anyway? Angela said that you wanted to talk to me?" she dragged herself back to the moment and asked.

She noticed the exact moment he had let go of her arm, it was still tingling somewhat, and when he'd been holding it, it was sizzling. Starting to turn towards the school yard, she started to walk with him, although not as close as he would have liked. He'd been watching her speak and noticed that her hair had red sparks in it, her skin was perfectly smooth and he eyes were so blue. He'd felt a crushing pressure in his chest and his jeans and wasn't sure which one confused him more. "Do you like football?" he asked. His carefully prepared and often agonized speech completely forgotten.

"Football?" she asked "Um, I guess so, I don't really watch it much, I used to but not anymore" she said not understanding. "Why do you ask?"

"We have a game on Friday, here at home and I thought, well, maybe you'd like to come watch me play?" he stammered. Watch him play? Geez Seeley, that's smooth he thought.

"Oh- I don't think I can, I don't have a lot of free time and I'm not sure that I would know what I was watching anyway, but thanks." Wondering if this was going to be the end of their conversation, she looked across the field towards the trees with a longing expression.

Mistaking her expression he said, "Why not? Do you have to work? It's okay if you don't understand it; I can explain it to you?"

Deciding that she might as well be brutally honest, she had nothing to lose, she looked up at him and said, "I'm not sure what kind of dork outreach program you've got going on here, but I don't think that I'm available to be your guinea pig, so thank you again for rescuing me from the dragon Perotta, but I'm going to let you off the hook." She turned to walk away when her arm began to sizzle again.

"Dork outreach program?" he said with a twinkle in his eye, "I've never heard of that one before, I actually thought you might enjoy the game, we're playing for the wild card to enter the playoffs and it should be pretty exciting. Maybe Angela can come with you?" AHHHH…that's it she thought, he actually wants Angela. "Listen, I'll ask her if she wants to go to your game, but I still can't go" she told him. "Look-let's start over" he said. "My name is Seeley Booth, and you are?" Holding his hand toward her he nodded at her to answer. She decided to play along, she could worry about it later, "my name is Temperance Brennan, and it's nice to meet you."

"Temperance, it's nice to meet you too, and that's an interesting name, does it mean something?" he asked, lightly squeezing her outstretched hand. "It means, 'Moderation'" she grinned up at him, "so, nothing as exotic as you would think, what does Seeley mean?"

"It means, 'happy or fortunate' it's a family name" he ended with a wry twist of his mouth. "Most of the time I go by Booth, I don't really like being called Seeley."

"Well", she said, "I like it" feeling flushed with pleasure he smiled at her in full, "thanks."

"So where do you normally sit?" he asked. "Sit?" her brow creased in confusion. "Yes-sit, its lunch time right" indicating her lunch bag with a nod, "aren't you going to eat?"

Stunned, she had forgotten that they were standing outside the doors to the HS and it was indeed lunch time. She'd started to feel comfortable around him and was actually looking forward to talking more, which really scared her because she just wasn't a people person. Especially, when the person in question was the hottest guy at school.

"Oh-well, over by the trees on the far side of the field" she said pointing slightly, "I like to read, or watch the scrimmages." Crooking his elbow towards her, he said, "the trees it is then."

"You don't have to do this you know?" she said again. "I know what I have to do and what I don't believe me, Temperance, let's just go eat okay? We'll talk a little, maybe laugh once or twice, no one gets hurt, no one gets bit, what do you say?"

Thinking to herself she wanted to scream YES I say YES but still wanting to hold onto the little shred of self respect she had left, she just whispered, "Okay" and put her arm in his. Together they walked down the outdoor stairs and towards the field.

Neither one of them had any idea that they were being watched like prey from a certain blonde hawk…

**CHAPTER 10**

Once they got to the trees Temperance started to panic. With her banged up knee, too short skirt and his proximity she wasn't sure how she was even going to sit, let alone eat her lunch. When they got there, he sat down and waited for her to join him, she started to slide down and then changed her mind and began to kneel and then standing up again in frustration, she kind of looked around to see if there was a way she could just fall with grace. Realizing her dilemma, he stood up and took his letter jacket off. Laying it down on the ground, he stood in front of her and took both her hands. Raising her shocked eyes to his she said, "What are you doing?" "Trust me, I'll hold you, you lean back and you'll land right on my jacket" "Why?" she asked. Blowing out his breath in exasperation he said, "Just trust me okay?" Deciding all she could do was a bruise on her butt if it didn't work; she started to lean back and felt his arms absorb her weight. Light as feather she touched down on his still warm jacket.

Opening his lunch and indicating she should do the same, he sat down and asked her, "so, what exactly happened to you? An exhibit fall or something?"

Slowly trying to speak and eat at the same time, she told him of running through her kitchen and sliding into the table, brushing her bangs down to hide the bruise. "Don't do that, you'll make it worse" he said reaching up and lightly pushing her bangs out of her face. While they were both a little shy during the awkward exchange they began to loosen up and started talking in earnest about everything. He asked about working at the museum, what she wanted to go to school for, how long she had lived in town and seemed genuinely interested in her responses. He told her about playing football and hockey, living with his grandparents, his brother. They talked for the entire lunch break, both of them relaxed and feeling a connection. All too soon the bell rang and Temperance was frantic at how she was now going to stand up. "Not to worry", Seeley said reading her mind, "I'll help". He once again stood over her and leaned down to grab her hands, "Just let me pull you" he said, he tugged on her hands and she stood straight up but stumbled slightly and fell into his chest. "Oh sorry" she whispered, looking up, "it's okay" he said his voice slightly husky. They began to walk back to the school and when they got there, he said, "I have to go to gym, where are you going?"

"I have biology then I'm done for the day, it's one of the perks of being in accelerated classes" she said smiling at him, "I'll go to work after that."

"Well then, smart girl, lunch tomorrow?" he winked. She looked down and then away and then back to him, "you don't have to have lunch with me you know."

Seeley reached out and tipped her chin with his finger, leaning in close he said, "Temperance, let's just get this out into the open, how about you stop telling me what I don't have to do-I know what I have to do and what I don't, and right now, I have to know if you will have lunch with me tomorrow?" staring earnestly into her eyes she was able to see the slightly pleading look he was giving her.

"Okay Seeley, lunch tomorrow sounds nice" she answered shyly, "thank you".

"My pleasure kid, have a good one and I'll see you tomorrow" he said as the 2nd reminder bell rang, turning to jog away, he looked back over his shoulder and said, "Be safe tonight after work", and with that he was gone.

Temperance hurried to biology, for once not dreading the next 90 minutes spent with the senior class. She didn't have time to grab her book, but as it was mostly review today she would be okay with her notes and smiling a little she shuffled off to class.

Her Biology teacher was a big fan of allowing students to choose their own seats as a metaphor for making good life choices. She believed that by allowing them to seat themselves by their friends, she was allowing them to learn at their own pace. Most of the time all it allowed the kids to do was continue their lunch time discussions or plan their weekends. The popular kids sat together and did mostly nothing, the smart kids sat together and tried to learn what they could and the rest of them just tried to stay under her radar. Today when she got to class, Temperance was dismayed to see that her usual seat in the back was full, and the only available seat was in the front row, right next to Payton. Sighing at the futility of it all she walked up front and sat down. She looked straight ahead and tried to ignore all the eyes on the back of her head, the whispers that had started when she came in, and most of all the hostility of the girl next to her. Wondering where the teacher was, she was actually a little scared and flinched slightly when Payton leaned in to her and said, "Hey little girl, I saw you with my boyfriend. It's okay though, he's allowed to slum it a little, you're not the first little tramp he's chased since we've been together, I hope you know though, he always comes back to me, so don't get your panties in a twist. Enjoy him while you can" she finished in a whisper as the teacher came in. Temperance's heart stopped when Payton began to speak and her throat was tight when she finished, I knew it she thought, that's what happens when you let your guard down. Thinking there was no way she was going to have lunch with him tomorrow, she turned her attention to the white board and tried to get through the next 90 minutes without letting Payton see that she had gotten to her.

**Chapter 11**

After the biology class that had seemed to last 90 days rather than minutes, Temperance stowed her books that she didn't need for homework, stuffed her bag with those that she did and headed off to work. She often cut across the back practice field, as it made the walk a little shorter to the bus stop. This time when she got there, she could see that football practice had started a little earlier than usual. Oh- it must be because of the game on Friday she reasoned. Head down she walked in front of the bleachers and breathed a deep sigh of relief to see that the cheerleaders hadn't made it out there yet. But he was.

At that moment Seeley felt the urge to stop watching the QB and look to his right. Seeing her, his heart lightened a little. He saw her glance over and felt her eyes land on him. Pushing his helmet up, he smiled and waved to her. Not enough the guys would ride him the rest of practice, but enough to let her know he saw her. Instead of the smile he anticipated and maybe a wave back, she abruptly turned her head and looking down began to walk faster. He moved away from the huddle to watch her walk down the access path towards the road. What the hell was that about, he wondered? Did I do something since lunch? Blowing his breath out hard, he decided this was going to be a lot harder than he thought. He hadn't had to work so hard to get a girl to like him since, well, since never. Pulling his helmet back on, he sidestepped back into the huddle and pretended to know his route. Hoping he could figure it out before the snap so that he didn't crushed; he forced his mind back to football.

Temperance kept stealing glances over to where the team was huddled, she didn't know which one was which until he stepped away from the group and raised his helmet to look at her. She saw the smile on his face and when he waved to her, her knuckles turned white with the grip she kept on her notebook to keep from waving back. She looked quickly away and hurried to the bus stop. She wasn't going to let him get to her; he'd already gotten too close.

Once the lumbering bus made its way to the Museum, she was once again somewhat back to her normal self. Looking forward to a night of quiet and wondering what exhibit she would be assigned to, she almost didn't hear Angela calling her name from the parking lot.

"Sweetie! Hey-Temperance" she called walking briskly over to the bottom of the entrance stairs where Tempe had finally stopped. "OH MY GOD! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU? Instantly on the defense and adopting a mama lion persona, Angela brushed her hair away from her forehead and looked at her bruise, as well as the one on her knee. Temperance told her all about the slipping on the floor and told her that it really did look worse than it felt. For some reason ever since Seeley had touched her forehead, her headache had gone from pulsating to a minor hum. "Well as long as you are okay-how did it go with studly?" she asked with a wink. "Was it all fiery passion and nonstop lovin?"

"Hardly Ange-he saved me from Perotta again, we talked about a lot of different stuff at lunch, he went to class, I went to class, Payton told me he slummed all the time and not to get my hopes up and I came here. That was pretty much it." she tried, but couldn't keep the hurt from her voice.

"Okay-so what I'm hearing here is you've already decided you aren't going to try this because the girl who has been trying to hurt, humiliate and basically make your life hell for the past year told you to back off? Is that what is going on?" she asked as they walked into the museum. "You know how ridiculous that sounds right? What did you think she was going to say, 'hey-take my boyfriend, you deserve him I hope you're very happy?' of course not! She's mad because he left her, and she's decided that she is going to get him back and use you to do it!" Angela turned on Temperance and said, "Bren-I love you to pieces but sometimes you can be so naïve. I can't believe you would think she had your best interests at heart." They both went into the locker rooms and changed into their uniforms. "At first break, you come find me and we will have a little dating 101 ala Angela Montenegro, okay?" giving her friend a quick hug Angela hurried downstairs to start her shift. Meanwhile, Temperance felt like she'd just been thrown into a washing machine, she didn't know what to do now, sighing, she gathered her supplies and headed to the assignment board to see which room she was going to be in. Great-she thought bitterly, I'm in the Olympic Room, surrounded by the ancient Greeks and the early Olympian Games should take my mind off of a handsome football player I know. Knowing there was no way out of it, she headed up to get to work, already dreading her dating 101 class…

Two hours later, Angela came upstairs and rapped on the window pane to get her attention. Temperance knew that telling Angela she was busy wasn't going to work, so she figured she'd let her do all the talking and 30 minutes later she could go back to work.

"Okay hon; tell me EVERYTHING-from the first words to the last words spoken today, by all three of you." Angela told her once they were in the same room and seated on the fake Coliseum steps. For the next 10 minutes Temperance told her friend what had gone on, even about his picking her up, their touches, everything. "Wow-that's hot" Angela said fanning herself off and motioning for Temperance to continue. She finally wound down and said, and that's the last thing that happened. "Well, we have a little bit of damage control, but not as bad as I would have thought" she told her. "Tomorrow, when you get to school, he will come up to you at some point and ask what happened, be honest, tell him his tramp of an ex girlfriend told you to leave him alone, you panicked and decided to do that. Then you apologize to him this time and tell him that you aren't interested in leaving him alone and if he wants to hang out with you that he better be on the level or you are going to just walk away right then and there.-Now, he could respond in one or two ways", she put her hand up to stop Tempe from interrupting, "1st way, he could say something along the lines of 'we just had lunch, not picking out rings or anything thanks drama queen and maybe this wasn't a good idea' if he does, smile, hold your head up and walk away. If its option number 2, he will tell you that Payton is full of it, to ignore her and he would like to keep getting to know you. If that's the way it pans out, smile, look him in the eye and tell him you'd be interested in getting to know him too, tell him you'll meet him for lunch and then go to class-understand?" she finished.

"I think so" Temperance said, "but what if neither of those happens and he doesn't look for me, or I don't get the chance to talk to him? Do I search him out?"

"Believe me Sweetie, mama Ange has been around these waters for a lot longer than you, and he'll seek you out" She said with an exaggerated gypsy accent. "Angela-you're only 3 years older than I am you know, you can't have been around that much!" Tempe said with a slight giggle.

"Honey-I was in Europe for 2 years by myself when I was your age and believe me, American boys are a piece of cake compared to the neurotic Europeans!" she laughed and winked.

"We'd both better get back to work", Tempe said. She loved Angela like a sister and was so glad that they had met. She didn't know what she would have done without her. Agreeing and telling her to wait for her after her shift ended, Angela left her to go back downstairs.

**CHAPTER 12**

At 8:45 when the museum started to prepare to close for the evening, Tempe headed downstairs to drop off her supplies, get her things and meet Angela. "Hey hon-you want a ride home?" Angela asked her, pulling her hair up into a tight bun and adjusting her bustier. "No-you look like you have plans tonight" Tempe told her, "I'll take the bus."

"Okay babe-suit yourself, I'm going to go show some college boys what their missing at Jiggle tonight-wish me luck!" she said with a leer and a wink. Laughing at her friend, Tempe reminded her to be careful and hugged her goodbye.

Walking out with the rest of the employees shortly after 9, Temperance was surprised to see Seeley leaning against the hood of an older model Explorer. "Temperance?" he asked quietly, standing up and walking towards her. She wasn't worried, Russ and Amy were standing under the streetlight if she needed to yell, she didn't think he would do anything anyway; he looked like a lost puppy, his hands in his pockets. "What happened today?" he asked, "Didn't you see me at practice? I waved to you."

Temperance decided to take the plunge and tell him everything. She saw the bus come and go out of the corner of her eye and decided that she was going to be in trouble for something anyway, might as well just get it over with. When she was done speaking his jaw was tight and he had his arms crossed over his chest. He looked so intimidating that Temperance took a step back. "I can't believe she said that to you" he said cold fury in his voice, "I have NEVER cheated on her, NEVER. I never would, I believe in monogamy. She has cheated on me tons of times, but I have never done it. Regardless of what she has told you, I have no intention of getting back together with her. To be honest, I don't know why I've stayed as long as I have. We have nothing in common, aside from sex there is nothing there." On the word sex, Brennan blushed; she had never even had a first kiss let alone anything else. I am so out of my league she thought. Seeing her blush, he stopped and took her hand, "Look, I um, I like you, you're nice, you're a tough little chick and you're beautiful. I'd like to get to know you better and I'm willing to take as much time to do that as necessary, I think there has to be some give and take on both sides though" bending down, he looked her right in the eyes and continued, "I promise you Temperance, I'm not using you to get back at Payton or anyone else, I won't do that. Will you trust me?"

Later when she thought about it and everything that had changed in that one moment Temperance still had no idea what made her say, "yes, I trust you Seeley" with such conviction. He smiled and reached out to hug her, pulling her close she felt like she was coming home. He smelled like Irish Spring and Sandlewood and was so warm, his chest so hard she wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his chest, it felt so right. A few minutes went by and he leaned his head down to her, the age old instinct to lean into him for that first kiss overwhelmed her. Still, she fought it and stepped back, leaving him with a surprise on his face. Haltingly she said, "I'm sorry, I have to go home now, I'm already late and missed my bus, so I really need to leave, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"How about I drop you off?" he said, "It's my fault you're late anyway."

"Okay-thank you" she smiled up at him; he helped her to the car and opened the door for her. The drive to her house was short and silent, both of them lost in thought, both of them were glad that he came by the museum and both were thinking of the almost kiss. Too quickly they reached her house and she started to get out of the car. He came around the side and opened the door for her and said, "I'll wait til you get inside, and Temperance?"

"Yes?" she said getting out of the car.

"You'll see me tomorrow" he told her smiling the little half smile that she was rapidly beginning to imagine was for her alone.

"Okay-thank you for the ride" and before either of them could stop, she reached up and kissed his cheek and hurried up the walk to her house. Going inside without looking back, she didn't see him reach up and touch his cheek, her kiss burning his flesh as though he had been branded. He grinned and thought to himself, I am so going to see you tomorrow little girl.

Once she was inside, Lance and Rebecca met her in the entry way. "Where were you?" they both asked, "the museum closed 45 minutes ago, it's a 10 minute bus ride from there to here" Rebecca said scathingly, "Were you even at work? Who dropped you off? We heard the car door, was it that Angela? What is going on Temperance Brennan?"

Hoping like hell she could get through this Tempe did something she had never done in her life, she looked both of them in the face and said, the museum closed as usual tonight and there was a short staff meeting, it wasn't on my original schedule, so I didn't know about it until this afternoon when I got there, I would have called, but I didn't know that it would go so long. I got a ride home with Max Keenan; he's one of the scientists there. You can call him to confirm if you want, he will be at the museum tomorrow." Hoping that they couldn't hear her heart pounding from where they were standing and that they would buy the story, she started to go upstairs, "I have some homework, so I will have my light on for a little longer" she said softly walking past them. "Well young lady, we will call tomorrow to make sure that you are telling the truth, we won't have liars here in this house, and you may have your light on for one half hour. No more. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am, yes sir" she said going to her room. By the time she got there she had stopped trembling and had a small smile on her face. Nothing they could say would take away the feeling that threatened to envelope her tonight. She had never been so bold before and when her lips met his cheek, she felt like there had been a liquid fire connection. Her face must have been as red as a tomato, but she didn't care, she had made the first move. Tomorrow she would worry about calling Max and filling him in, she felt terrible about the lie and involving her friend, but she also felt like it was a necessary evil and she would make it up to him somehow.

She turned her radio on, put in her headphones and started her homework. She would need the flashlight tonight it would seem. There was a lot more than a half hour's worth, oh well, she'd be tired tomorrow but for some reason, her evening was energizing her. Listening to the radio Tempe got a huge shock when she heard this from her favorite radio personality:

**IT LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE A VERY SPECIAL DEDICATION TONIGHT GOING OUT TO THE BONE LADY, IT'S FROM THE BMOC, WONDERFUL TONIGHT BY MR. ERIC CLAPTON HIMSELF…ENJOY BONE LADY!**

The acoustic melody wove a web of serenity and peace that Tempe wanted to sink into. She felt the tears prick her eyes and sighed, listening to the familiar voice she was transported into two directions at once. The first, to when she still had her family, her parents were huge Eric Clapton fans and had all of his albums, both solo and with his various groups, the second, to tonight when she saw the man behind the boy of Seeley Booth.

**CHAPTER 13**

The next day it was slightly easier to get ready for school, although still black, blue and puffy her knee seemed to have more movement in it, and already the bruise on her forehead was beginning to turn yellow around the edges. She went downstairs to breakfast and as usual, her foster parents ignored her until the last possible second, as she was leaving Lance said, "You'll be on time this evening we trust? No impromptu meetings or anything?"

"Yes sir, I will" she said, closing the door and heading to the bus stop. As soon as she got to school she made a beeline for the office and dialed Max's direct line. Surprisingly he answered it himself, "Max Keenan" his voice brusque. "Max? Hi, it's Tempe" she started, hoping he wasn't mad. Hearing her voice, he instantly melted and said, "Hello sweetheart, why are you calling so early, are you okay?"

Temperance told him that she was fine and about the lie she had told last night and would he be mad? Max assured her that he would never be mad for something like that, in fact he would let a couple of other people in on the "impromptu meeting" just in case they decided to talk to other people, he assured her that they could be trusted and he wasn't worried about it. Thanking him, she knew there was a reason he meant so much to her. Next to Angela, he was the closest thing to a real family she had.

Temperance headed off to her locker and saw a piece of paper sticking out of the top grate. Afraid to see who it was from, her heart crashed into her stomach. Pulling it out and looking around to see if she was being watched, she slowly opened it. All it said was "it was wonderful" and it was signed BMOC. Grinning like a loon, she stuffed the note into her inner jacket pocket and grabbed what she needed for first block. For the first time in the 2 years that she had attended St. Agnes HS she was looking forward to something. Well, someone.

Classes dragged on today and she was more than ready for lunchtime when it arrived. She wasn't sure where to meet him, so she figured she would just head down to the trees, hopefully he would come down there too. When she got there, he was already there and jumped up and smiled at her. Offering her his jacket to sit on again, he told her he'd help her sit if she wanted to again, she blushed slightly and said she thought she could manage it. The awkwardness between them was tangible and neither of them quite knew what to do or say to break the tension. Finally, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek and said, "There, now we're even!" laughing they settled into chatting about this that and everything. He told her about his favorite hockey team, about his scholarship to the University, and some pretty funny stories of being part of the football and hockey teams at St. Agnes. He asked her about Anthropology, the museum and what her favorite kind of music was. They bounced all over subject wise and on a whim, he asked, "Temperance, I've been meaning to ask you, why do you wear that jacket all the time?" thinking that she wouldn't tell him because it was a hand me down, or thrift store purchase or something, he was really surprised when she said, "it's my brother's and it's all I have left. I feel like if I have it on, then he is with me, and I'm not as lonely and scared anymore. I guess it's like a security blanket, lame huh?" she said, not meeting his eyes.

He said, "It's not lame and I think that it makes perfect sense to me" he scooted over closer to her and leaning towards her he said, "We all have to believe in something and I'm glad you have this to believe in-and I hope you know, you don't have to be lonely or scared when I'm around you" she looked up suddenly and was surprised to see how close he really was. Seeing her deer in the headlight look and not wanting to take advantage of her, he leaned back and cleared his throat and said, "Angela told me that you don't have a phone and about your radio code, I hope you don't mind?" she shook her head and said, "I don't mind, it was nice what you did last night, that's one of my favorite songs."

"I want you to have this," he said, handing her a piece of paper, "It's my cell and home phone number, if you ever need anything, please call me. I know Angela is your best friend and she seems like a really protective person, but I'd like to know if you need anything too, ok?" taking the slip of paper she promised to call him if she needed anything. Hearing the bell, they gathered up their things and headed back to the school. "Biology right?" he asked her when they got closer, "yeah-I guess I'd better hurry too, otherwise there is no telling who I'll be sitting by in class"

"If Payton says anything to you or gives you any problems, or if any of her nosy henchmen do, will you let me know?" he asked, genuine concern in his voice and etched onto his features, "I will, but I think if I just go back to ignoring her she may leave me alone" giving a little wave he watched her hurry off to class. Don't bet on it kid, he thought, Payton won't let anything go. Thinking he may want to have a little talk with Ms. Perotta sooner rather than later. I won't let you hurt her Payton.

**CHAPTER 14**

In order to prepare for the big game on Friday, the gym hour was when the football team started practice this week, so Booth hustled off to the locker room and was changing into his practice gear with a big loopy grin on his face when Fischer slid on his knees in front of him, hands on his chest blinking his eyes in a dramatic way. "Oh Seeley, oh oh" he laughed and jumped up, giving Wendell a fist bump, he looked at Booth and asked him, "So what's going on man? You and Payton really done?"

"Yep-we're done, I can't deal with her crap anymore" he answered, pulling on his shoulder pads, "besides what's it to you two? Caroline can use her mom's car, so you won't have to give up any time with Daisy or Caroline-and apparently it won't take long for Payton to find some other sucker"

"Just watch your back man, Payton doesn't think you guys are done, she's explained it to all of us more than once about how you are going through a phase and you'll be back when you're done bustin' a nut on the new girl. She's out for blood too, just so you know." Fischer told him suddenly serious. Seeley had been his friend since they were in 3rd grade and he felt like it was his place to tell him. None of them were overly sentimental being 18 year old kids, but that's a long time to hang out with someone to not care a little.

"We really didn't want to say anything, Payton made us promise, but dude-she's ruthless on the subject-so be careful" Wendell added, new man to the friends but still willing to have their backs.

"Thanks guys", Seeley said standing up and cracking his back to the left and right, "I think I can handle all 5'2 125 lbs of Payton Perotta" he chucked them on their shoulders and the three of them headed out to the field. I hope so, Wendell thought, you haven't heard what she's been talking about. Actually worried that something bad could happen and wondering if he should tell someone, he wrestled with getting his mind on practice, Coach Hodgins did not take pity on anyone and wouldn't think twice about making him run all practice, and he was on defense for Pete's sake!

Remarkably Biology was a smooth class for Tempe today, Payton and her harem were all scuttled together up front and Tempe's regular seat was empty in the back. Using her book as a cover, she brought out the note, and re-read it, a flush creeping up her face and making her chest tight at the simple words. She wasn't paying attention and had no idea what they talked about in class; she kept reaching over to touch the paper and staring wistfully outside the window. Her mind was swirling and her body was reacting to these unfamiliar feelings. She wanted to talk to Angela, even though she wasn't working today, she thought maybe if she called Angela and told her she needed her she'd come in. Hoping that Angela didn't have plans tonight, she decided to call her after class before she went to the bus stop.

Making the call, Temperance felt bad that she couldn't ask someone at the school, she'd never really had a friend before Angela. She talked to girls and interacted with the other students occasionally, but was never really a part of a friendship. She always felt like she was on the outside looking in, part of that was her own natural shyness and awkwardness, part of it was the life she'd led for the past few years. It was hard for her to trust anyone. Getting through to Angela she was more than happy to come meet the girl before her shift and talk to her, "just let me finish my hair, and I'll be right there" Angela told her, "Oh no rush, I still have to wait for the bus, so it'll be at least a half hour" Temperance said.

"No way" Angela replied, "I'll pick you up at school and that will give us more time to talk, I'll be there in 15" she hung up and Temperance was left listening to the dial tone. She went to her locker and put her books away, for once no homework, so she'd be able to get some sleep tonight after work. She actually only had to be there from 3:30 to 7 tonight, so was going to have some free time after that. It never failed, on the nights she worked to close; she had homework, on the early nights nothing. Which meant a whole lot of time spent avoiding the Sweets until she could be excused to her room. Unfortunately they were very persistent about "family time" and she could rarely get out of it. They thought they were bonding with her, but instead they spent hours picking her apart and pointing out her many and varied flaws described as helpful criticism. Sighing and shrugging her shoulders, Brennan went to meet her friend by the back entrance. Although not as recognizable as her father, Angela was still a pretty popular person in her own right and she preferred to not cause a scene out in front of the school.

Walking past the football field again Temperance was carefully peeking to her left to see if she could see him again. Recognizing him this time, he was running with the football. Just then he was tackled and forced to the ground. The coaches starting yelling and there were whistles blowing as the action on the field stopped and everyone ran to where the players were standing around. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT CHARLIE?-we don't tackle our own guys, remember? Touch to end the play, why would we take out our own team you dumb-A$$?" Coach Hodgins was livid. Shaking his head and getting up, Seeley tossed the ball to his coach and said, "Coach-I'm fine, Charlie tackles like a girl, it's no wonder we have so many missed blocks" he smiled grimly at the junior with an unspoken promise to get him back. "Let's just run the play again" he said, catching his breath and starting to head back to the huddle. As Coach Hodgins cleared the field, Seeley saw her watching, her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide with terror, deciding he was going to risk it, he changed course and jogged over.

"Hi Temperance" he said when he got there. She dragged her eyes slowly up his body to his face, "are you okay?" she whispered, still in shock. "Hey little girl, I'm just fine" he told her recognizing the fear in her eyes, "that happens to me all the time" reaching out to touch her cheek he made her look at him, "don't worry, go to work, I'll be fine okay?" Coach Hodgins was blowing the whistle and yelling at him to get his $$ back to the huddle. Seeley leaned over and kissed her on the cheek and said goodbye over his shoulder as he ran back to the rest of his team. He accepted all the taunts and teasing the guys handed him good naturedly and snapping his helmet back on, was able to slightly hide the blush on his cheeks and the wide grin. Temperance started to walk away, but reached up to touch her cheek wondering if it burned as much on the outside as it did on the inside.

"TEMPE- Temperance, over here!" she heard Angela calling. Looking over she saw her friend was leaning out of the T-Top of a black Firebird. She was waving at her and was getting a lot of attention from the stragglers who also had early release. Her hair was up in a faux hawk and was tipped with silver, along with the black tank top, silver jacket and black leggings she looked like she was going to perform on stage, not hang out with a 16 year old girl and give her dating advice. Smiling at her friend and her outlandish appearance, Tempe hurried over to get in the same car. "Tell me EVERYTHING" Angela ordered her, starting the car and spinning a donut to get out of the parking lot. Temperance giggled and started to tell her everything that had happened since he had met her outside of work the day before.

**CHAPTER 15**

After practice and the requisite butt chewing he got for his little kiss, Seeley was heading home when he decided to stop by the museum. He thought maybe he'd be able to see Temperance even if he couldn't talk to her. When he got there Angela had her head down and was looking over a stack of brochures in front of her, "Hey Angel-" he said sidling up beside her, "where's Tempe?"

"Hello BMOC, whats up? Tempe is upstairs cleaning the…"she stopped to peek over the desk at the schedule hidden out of public view, "she is in the white house room, 3rd floor. I've got a tour to take up there in about 10 minutes, so tag along and I'll drop you off in that exhibit, ok?"

"Hey thanks-she won't get in trouble will she? I know the exhibits she cleans are closed"

"Nah-she'll be fine, just be quick when I open the door"

"Angela-did she mention anything to you about going to the football game on Friday? I asked her on Monday and she said she didn't think she could, but she was going to talk to you and see…she hasn't said anything, and I didn't want to push her." He asked, somewhat shyly. Man, he thought, Angela is gorgeous, it's a good thing she's too much car for me.

"In fact Boothy she did mention it, she told me about it today in fact, I told her if she can get out of the house, I'll go with her. She doesn't want to ask the Sweets if she can go, because that will most likely make it very difficult for her to go to the lecture on Saturday, and she's had that planned for months…so I can't say for sure but…maybe? Oh shoot, gotta go, my tour is up…hang out in the back, when I lead them past the employee entrance I'll drop back, open the door and it's all the way to the right, follow the light okay?" Angela pulled her museum smock closed and headed over to the queue of people standing behind the red velvet rope. "Okay ladies and gents, and you too cutie" she winked at a little old man in a wheelchair up front, "let's get this wagon rolling. Today we are going to discover the amazing depths our Government has when it comes to wing nuts and nut jobs…and on we go!" the crowd laughed and followed her as she spun a tale of intrigue and suspense, nothing like what the history books actually wrote, but entertaining.

Following her, Booth grinned at how the men were looking at Angela and the women were looking at the exhibit, she was quite the draw. When they got to the right wing of the Government floor, she had the crowd go ahead and she let Booth into the employee entrance, "go get her Studly" she stage whispered before heading back to the front of the crowd to lead them astray.

Booth continued onto the right as he was instructed, the exhibits being cleaned were dimly lit by emergency exit signs, soon he came to a room that had a little more light, it appeared to have heavy black curtains pulled over the glass up front so that the ceiling lights could be turned on. He crept into the room quietly, not sure what he was in for and not wanting to scare her. He saw her immediately sitting on a chair in the corner, a yellow and black book in her hands she was studying it intently. "Are you sure you should be reading in here young lady?" he asked in a stern voice, causing her to squeak and jump up, dropping the book she looked at him with wide frightened eyes. "Oh, hey, I'm sorry-I didn't mean to scare you, just surprise you." He said, hands out to her to show he was on her side. "I don't like surprises!" she hissed. He'd reached her by then and bent down to pick up the book at the same time she did, when their foreheads met half way down, she stepped back and sat back down. "My forehead has never taken the beating it has this week" she said under her breath while she rubbed it. That made Seeley laugh out loud and he leaned down and picked up the book. "Football for Dummies" he read, looking at her, he asked, "are you reading this for me?"

"Maybe-I wanted to understand the game a little better" she said defensively. "Does this mean you are going to go to the game on Friday?" he asked a hitch in his voice. "Well, I was going to try-I'm sure my parents, my foster parents will say no, but it doesn't hurt to ask."

"Will that get you in trouble with your lecture on Saturday?" he asked, handing her the book back and seeing another dummy book in her bag. He was trying to read the title upside down when she asked, "How did you know about that?"

He pulled out the flyer from his pocket and told her how he had gotten it when she lost her papers the first time they met. "I hope you don't mind, I forgot to give it back to you" he said.

"Oh that's okay, they're downstairs in the museum, I figured I lost it somewhere so just grabbed another one, and if they say no to the football then I'll ask if I can go to the football instead of the lecture anyway" Temperance told him, a little fire in her eye.

"Tempe-you can't do that, this lecture is important to you, Angela told me you've waited months to go to it"

"Yeah-but the game is important to you…and…"her voice faltered and a blush appeared, "I…like you and thought maybe the game would be fun." She finished quietly.

Seeley leaned over and gave her a hug and held her against his chest for a moment, then said into her hair, "Don't give up the lecture for me, there will be other football games, but you may never get this chance again, okay Bone lady?" letting her go against his will, he saw the title of the other book was "Hockey for Dummies" squelching a grin, he turned and gestured around the room, "so what's going on in here?"

"This is just one of the many office re-creations from the white house, the oval office is next door, and this is like the inner outer office for the secretaries and stuff. It's actually a pain to clean because you have to move everything and then put it back according to the chart" she told him, "and I should really get back to it, I'm glad you came to see me though, that was nice and you didn't have to."

"No problem, and we've discussed what I don't have to do remember, you want some help?" he asked, "I've got nothing else to do, Jared and Pops went to a movie, so I'm on my own…let me help please?"

Seeing she wasn't going to get out of it, she gave him the layout sheet of the office and they started cleaning it. There was some light bantering and chatter as they worked; for the most part they stayed on opposite sides of the room. After about an hour or so, she looked over at him and he'd removed his hoody and was only wearing a tank top advertising a local gym. Her jaw dropped as she saw just how well formed he was. She'd never seen anyone with that many muscles in real life and he was working the tight body. Feeling like he was being watched, Seeley turned around slowly and slightly flexed, "do you like what you see?" he asked her flirtatiously. Temperance's face turned bright red as she looked away and stammered, "Um…I didn't know you had such well formed musculature structure is all, most adolescent males aren't that well proportioned and…you know."While she was talking he'd walked over to her and when he invaded her space she stopped talking, "Temperance" he asked, his voice low, "can I kiss you?" Just then the lights flickered and Tempe's eyes shot to his in panic, someone's coming, hurry, hide over there, she pushed him over to a large table and ran over to where his discarded hoody was, knowing she didn't have time or the aim to throw it to him, she slid it over her head and grabbed the schematic, trying to look like she was making sure everything was in place. Max walked in with Angela and said, "Hey kiddo-you're shift is up, whatcha doing in here? Redecorating?" he ambled over to her with a grin. "Nice hoody too, when did you start supporting the football program at St. Agnes?"

"Not the whole team, but a certain Mr. Hottie Max," Angela supplied, "Where is the BMOC anyway Temp? He still in here?" Not sure whether to say he was or wasn't, Seeley solved the problem and stood up. "Oh wowie-Boothy look what you've been hiding" Angela said with a purr in her voice,"come let mama make sure you're not too cold in here since Ms. Thing has your hoody on"

"Angela-mind your manners" Max said in a fatherly tone, "Hello, I'm Dr. Max Keenan, and who might you be?" When he walked over to shake Seeley's hand, Angela gave Temperance two thumbs up behind his back and fanned her face with her hand. "Hello sir, my name is Seeley Booth" the two men shook hands and Max stepped back to allow Seeley to walk over to Temperance's side.

"Well, like I said, her shift is over and the Sweets are downstairs starting to cause a ruckus, apparently they didn't want to wait for you to ride the bus, so I told them I'd come collect you, little girl." He said talking to Temperance, "and truth be told, I wanted to meet the young man here anyway. I mean, if I'm going to lie to parents about a staff meeting that is expected to take-what? 3 hours you think Angela? Yes, 3 hours on Friday night, I'd like to know why I'm making such a career killing mistake."

"Max! You can't do that!" Temperance said, "I don't want you to lose your job because of me"

"Tempe, honey, first off, I'm not going to lose my job I'm on the board, and secondly I happen to think that attending a high school football game in on the list of requirements to go to heaven, at least I'm pretty sure, you'll have to look into it for me just to be sure okay?" he winked at them all and said, "let's not dawdle, I've got a web to weave" and ushering the three of them ahead of him, he turned off the lights. "Mr. Booth, a word?" he asked as the girls went ahead, "yes sir?" Seeley said.

"Don't hurt her-Angela will be the least of your worries if you hurt that little girl" he told him.

"Yes sir, I understand, and please tell Angela and understand this yourself, the last thing I want to do is hurt Temperance. I like her, I'd like to get to know her better and I would appreciate some faith that I'm not the love 'em and leave 'em type" he said, not letting the older man intimidate him.

"Good to hear son, good to hear!" Max said, clapping his shoulder.

When they got back to the museum proper the girls went in to get their things as Max went to pave the way for them to attend the Friday night football game, Booth waited outside the employee only door. When Tempe came out she handed him his hoody and told him she'd see him tomorrow. "Keep it" he said, "It looks better on you anyway" and kissing her cheek he jogged out of the front doors and down the steps to his car.

"OOOHHHH girlie this is SO MUCH FUN!" Angela cooed at her…

**CHAPTER 16**

The ride home from the museum was tense. Rebecca and Sweets just could not believe that Temperance had to attend a meeting that would last 3 hours on a Friday night. When she couldn't stand it anymore, she exploded, "FINE! Then I won't go! I'll just call the museum and tell them that their training program isn't important enough for me to attend according to my guardians, and while they're at it, why don't they just cut me from the schedule altogether, I mean I don't need the little bit of money it pays or the college credits!" Silence greeted her at first, and then Rebecca turned in her seat and said, "Really Temperance, I don't think it will come down to all of that, quit over-reacting, your father and I will take you to the museum, and we'll pick you up as well. I think that is more than fair."

"Thank you" she said, and then under her breath, "he's not my father."

That evening after dinner, Temperance went upstairs and straight to bed wearing her pajama pants and his hoody; and put her headphones on. She tried hard to stay awake, but was only able to make it until about 10:45 before her body just gave in and she drifted off to sleep. She didn't hear the song that BMOC requested that night although for some reason she was softly crooning it to herself while getting ready the next day. _"__The smile on your face lets me know that you need me  
there's a truth in your eye saying you'll never leave me the touch of your hand says you'll catch me whenever I fall. You say it best when you say nothing at all."_

She smiled when she thought of how close they were while she slept in his hoody. She decided that she was going to wear it to school too. For the first time in 2 years, she left her jean jacket at home. Deciding that even if it did get too cold today for just the hoody, she didn't care. Rolling her jacket carefully into a small roll, she hid it at the very back of her closet, and dispersed her very personal trinkets throughout the room so that they would be hard to locate should the Sweets start to search for them. With a big smile, she checked her reflection and saw that the bruise on her forehead was starting to turn more yellow, which could only mean it was healing. Same with her knee, the swelling had gone down, although it was still pretty bruised up. She pulled her hair into a loose pony tail and went downstairs to grab a granola bar and head off to school. Luckily, the Sweets were nowhere around, so didn't see who was waiting for her when she walked outside.

She didn't see the car at first either, in fact she was almost completely past it when she heard, "Hey pretty lady, wanna ride?" she was startled and looked up into the brown eyes she was rapidly starting to lose herself in. "Hi" she said shyly, "why are you here so early? Don't you have weight training?"

Seeley was wearing the requisite uniform as well, but his shirt was tight against his chest as he flexed slightly and with a sexy grin said, "do you think I need it?" he made his pecs dance under the shirt, which sent her into great peals of laughter, "Oh Seeley, you're funny" she said climbing into the Explorer. "I wasn't sure what time your bus was, so I've been sitting here for awhile" he told her on their way to school, "I hope you don't mind? I just wanted to see you before lunch today"

Suddenly Temperance was panicked, why did he want to see her? Had she done something wrong? Feeling the sudden tense waves she was putting off, he said softly, "hey Bone Lady, I still want to see you at lunch, I just wanted more time today, okay?" he glanced over and reached to grab her hand. "I like you Tempe-don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you okay?" he squeezed her hand and entwined his fingers in hers. Temperance knew that she should probably breathe, she just couldn't remember how. Somehow she thought, my body should take over at some point here so I don't pass out. She kept waiting and eventually she was able to convince her lungs how to process air again.

Holding his hand made her whole body tingle, and all she could think of, was if this is hand holding, what is a kiss going to be like? They got to school and he grabbed her bag and walked her to her locker. Everyone was staring at them like they had come to school naked. "Why is everyone looking at us Seeley?" She asked the fear in her voice evident. "Because Tempe-we're new. This is new. The status quo has been changed, and they're wondering how best to respond to the situation. Put your big girl panties on, hold your head up high and I'll see you at lunch. It's too cold to sit by the trees, so we can sit in the car or wherever you want okay?" He leaned over and handed her bag, then gave her a light kiss on the cheek. Head down, she headed straight to her locker and ignored all the staring as best she could…

CHAPTER 17

That day for lunch Seeley decided to take her off campus to a little diner that was close by. He used to go there quite often; they had great pie and French fries. It had actually been months since he'd been there, Payton didn't think it suited their "station" in the realm of the fairytale world she lived in.

Although Temperance didn't really care for pie, she did enjoy the cozy little diner. It felt relaxed and as she sipped her milkshake, she and Booth were going over what she had learned in the dummy book. After about 20 minutes of back and forth questions she said, "I've definitely got the I formation down, I understand that, and I get the 4 tries for a down part. It's the rest of the plays that I don't get. Why, for instance, would they try to run the ball and only get a couple of yards at a time, when they can throw all the time and get a first down every play?"She asked, her brow furrowed. Man, she is so cute he thought to himself, then answered her, "because if they did it all the time then there would be no guessing what play they were going to do, they do the run up the middle so that when they do a pass play they are somewhat off guard."

"If you say so" she said, "shouldn't we be getting back?"

"What would you say if I told you we weren't going back?" he took a last bite of pie and smiled at her. "What?" Temperance asked him, "I have to go back; I'll really be in trouble if I don't. I can't miss any classes because then CPS will get a phone call, then the Sweets will get a call, then I'll be let out of my room at roughly the age of 50."

"Okay, so no hooky-got it-let's go Bone Lady" He stood up and put his hand on her lower back to guide her out of the diner. Getting into the car she said, "Thank you for lunch, and for explaining football to me, I really am having a good time."

"Me too kid, me too" he said with a smile. They were quiet on the drive back to school, he was trying to figure out a way to get a kiss and she was trying to figure out what to do if he tried to get a kiss. He thought he'd just block her door when they stopped and kiss her, so that was the plan when he pulled in. He didn't notice the blonde in the purple Audi right next to him. When he got out he glanced down and saw Payton sitting in her car and crying. Hard.

Knowing that it was probably a ploy, but still too much of a gentleman he asked Temperance to wait a second by the edge of the parking lot. He told her if he wasn't there in 10 minutes to go to class, he'd see her after school, and that no matter what, she was not to think anything bad was happening. He'd tell her everything. He kissed her cheek and hugged her close. "Don't worry Bone Lady; this is just one of her games." Since she had never even been this close to anyone before Temperance really didn't know how to react, but trusting that he was being honest and was too kind to be deliberately cruel, she acquiesced to his request. "Okay Seeley, I'll see you later" and she was gone. She did decide to not wait though; she would rather go and spend the last couple minutes of the lunch period by herself. She was afraid things were moving too fast or not fast enough. It was hard to believe they had just met less than a week ago.

Tapping on the glass, Seeley opened the door and got into the micro car when she unlocked the door. "Okay Payton" he sighed, "What's wrong?"

Payton wiped her eyes with a Kleenex and whispered, "I'm late."

CHAPTER 18

Silence. Swallowing hard, Seeley looked over and said, "Late? How can you be late Payton?"

**CHAPTER 19**

"We last had sex more than a week ago, and we used protection. We were careful every time. If this is a joke, it's not funny and it's not going to make me come back to you." He reached for the door handle and she said quietly, "I was late last month Seeley; I just didn't say anything to you-I didn't know you were going to break up with me! I thought...I thought..."

"You thought what Payton? You thought I'd go to college; we'd get married and be happy for the rest of our lives? That's your dream, not mine!" his voice was raising in anger. "Payton I don't believe you and I don't have time for this, I'm leaving now" Seeley opened the door and stepped out and began to walk away, quickly noticing that Tempe wasn't there.

"Seeley" Payton's voice came from around the side of the car, "I'm sorry, but I have to tell my parents. They will know it was you…" her voice tapered off. Turning around he saw that she wasn't crying anymore, in fact there was a feral gleam in her eyes. "What game are you playing Payton?" he asked her turning to face her full on. "Game Seeley? No game…you've had your fun, time to come back to the real world. That girl has nothing for you, and I? I have it all. You're the only one that doesn't see that. Of course, I can tell my parent's one thing and you another can't I? Or, I could not tell them anything…or wait, I'm only 17, you're 18 though…wow" she said coyly.

"Payton you really are a b!tch, what do you want from me?" he asked. "From you? I just want to know that you will do the right thing Seeley, I mean, you're _that_ guy right?" she said, grabbing her bag from the car. She checked her make up in the side mirror and said, "Walk me to class Seel?" interlocking her arm in his. Dropping her arm he said, "This dog won't bark Payton, I'm not going to let you blackmail me into something, we're done. Don't threaten me and leave Temperance alone. I mean it."

"Seeley Booth you don't even have a chance, just watch your back!" she spat at him and stalked up to the school. I'll get you Seeley she thought to herself, you just wait, that little princess of yours is about to have a very rude awakening. Seeing that Caroline and Daisy were waiting for her inside the entrance doors she decided that she needed to let them in on her plans.

The three of them skipped class and headed back to the parking lot to make the necessary arrangements. "Are you sure we can get Wen and Fischer in on it?" Caroline asked, "I mean they're his best friends, they won't do something like this on purpose. Will they?"

"We'll have to see how much they like it when they aren't getting any and when they aren't part of the crowd anymore. I don't care if they want to do it, they're going to do it get it?" Payton told her friends, "leave it to me; this is done, this weekend."

Tempe watched him get out of her car, then the exchange outside the car, her grabbing his arm and him shaking her off. She saw Payton head to the school, and Seeley to the field. She wanted so badly to go to him, but wasn't sure if she should, wasn't sure about anything. Deciding that she was going to take her chances with CPS, the Sweets, everything, she ran off to the field, hoping he was there.

**CHAPTER 20**

"Seeley! Seeley wait!" Tempe yelled down to the field, running as fast as she could with her knee banged up. "What happened?" She asked when she caught him and he turned to look at her.

"Why didn't you wait?" He asked her. "Well, it seemed like I was watching and I didn't feel comfortable just standing there, I needed to think for a minute-no, forget that, I needed to go back to being the me that I know and…understand" she told him.

"What does that mean? The 'you' you understand?"

"I've never talked to a boy before Seeley, let alone planned on going to a football game for one, or gone to lunch with one, or hugged or even…kissed one, nothing. So, this is all new to me, I don't know the rules of the game. I'm not stupid, but I am ignorant about this whole thing, so I needed to get away for a minute, catch my breath and be…me" Tempe told him, looking into his warm brown eyes. "Now, will you tell me what happened?"

"Payton just wanted to play a game, it was nothing, don't worry about it" He told her and reached out to grab her hand, starting to walk he said, "I didn't know that you've never been this close to someone, I knew you were shy, and I've never thought you were stupid, I forgot just how young you are Bone Lady and I thought you…well, never mind what I thought ok? Why aren't you in Biology?" he asked realizing just exactly what time it was and where they were.

"I've decided I didn't need to go today and I'll just deal with the consequences later. Do you want me to leave you alone? Because, I will if you need space?" she asked hoping he'd say no. Her heart was pounding at the risk she was taking and the feeling that she was surrendering to him was beginning to overwhelm her.

"I'd like to spend more time with you-have you ever been to the carousel at the park?" he asked, his thumb lightly stroking the back of her hand. "It's the big one downtown."

"I went when I was a kid, before my parents left" she told him.

"Would you like to go there now?" he asked, "or would that be weird?"

"I think it would be perfect", smiling brilliantly at him and leaning into him slightly. Her voice was bright when she said, "we could talk more about football or something?"

Laughing he said, "You're really getting into it huh? It's too bad it's the last game of the season!"

"If you lose right?" she said. "Yes, if we lose, if not one more than the Championship, it would be nice to go out as State Champs my senior year, but I've still got hockey, so that would be okay too"

As they got in the car, they drifted into different topics, talked about favorite foods, movies and debated the appeal of the three stooges. When they arrived at the park, Seeley let her wear his letter jacket as it had begun to get a little colder out, he put on his workout jacket and she offered him his hoody back, "here, I have your jacket, this is warmer than that light jacket, why don't you wear it?" she asked. "Because, I gave it to you, it makes me feel good to see you wearing it. It makes me feel…like…well, like you belong to me and I like feeling like everyone else can see that" he blushed when he answered, "I mean, not like you are an object of mine, a possession, but more like…like you chose me-so, you wear it & when we leave, I'll take my jacket back. Well, for now anyway" he said, winking at her. Temperance smiled and blushed; she was so unsure what to do. All of this was so new to her and she didn't want to make a mistake. Deciding she would just tell him that, maybe he could help her navigate these waters? They walked through the park, the leaves were all falling and winter was definitely around the corner, there were small pockets of kids with their parents, a few adults reading or walking dogs, but pretty quiet for a Thursday afternoon.

"Seeley?" she asked, looking up at him, "Can I ask you a question?"

He grabbed both of her hands and started to walk backwards in front of her, "Anything Bone Lady, what's on your mind?" stopping and drawing her into the circle of his arms, they'd stopped at the edge of the pond on the outside of the carousel enclosure. He slid along behind her and wrapped her arms up in his and rested his head on the top of her head. She almost melted, he felt so good pressed up against her, she could feel his coiled strength and still faintly smell his cologne. Smiling a small smile and thinking to herself she hoped she didn't pass out, she said, "Well, um…it's kind of a question, sort of a statement and "she blew out her breath, "let me start over-I told you I've never done this before, none of this, and I know that you have a lot of experience at this and well, other things…" he voice trailed off. He thought he knew where this was heading and leaned down and softly said, "Temperance, I'm not going to rush you into "other things" or anything at all, I'll take what you want to give me, regardless of what it is, so please don't think I'd take advantage of you. That's not what I want."

"No" she leaned back and looked up over her shoulder slightly, "I know that, I can…well, feel that from you, what I was going to say is that I don't want to make a mistake. I don't know what I'm doing, so if I say something or do something or don't say something or don't do something, I don't want you to think it's on purpose. I'm not really good at non verbal communication, or verbal communication either for that matter, I tend to be too literal, and I'm pretty smart when it comes to books and research and academia, but as far as social stuff, I'm really out of my element. I just don't want to embarrass you or me…I don't think I could handle it if you thought, well, thought…oh what am I trying to say?" she finished in a frustrated burst.

Seeley took her hand and led her over to a bench by the water. "I know what you are trying to say and I understand completely. Nothing you say or do will ever embarrass me, I can see that you aren't trying to do something to gain something else. You don't have that personality, and I love that about you. When I was dating Payton, I could always see her wheels turning, she was always looking for the upper hand, for a long time I didn't mind that, in fact I thought it was sexy and I was thrilled with it. I thought that it meant we would always be challenged and I thought the fighting and lying and all that was just a package deal. The last few months, I've come to realize I don't want to constantly be fighting and trying to one up, or outsmart or challenge the person that I want to be close to. I want to learn new things with them, together, I want to teach them things, and learn from them. I want someone who wants to have a life independent of mine, but who still needs me. Who needs me for me, not for _who_ I am or what I can do to promote their agenda. I want you to ask me questions and if you say or do something or think you might, I don't want you to be embarrassed, talk to me, and we'll figure it out together? Okay?"

Although she heard everything he'd said her mind was stuck on "what I love about you" and like a CD skipping that kept playing in her mind. She wondered if he realized he'd said it, of course he did, Seeley knew what he was saying she argued with herself, deciding she would hold onto that little phrase just for her right now, she grinned at him and said, "okay-it's a deal. You teach me stuff, I'll teach you stuff and we'll figure it out together-want to teach me how to ride a horse?" she nodded toward the carousel that was now starting to operate, the music lilting over through the air on the breeze.

"Sure Bone Lady, let's go" they jumped up and walked over to the ride. There were a couple of smaller kids that got onto the candy colored smaller horses, but Seeley led her over to the biggest horse on the ride. Glossy black, its mane & tail was a mixture of black, teal and purple swirls, the mouth forever frozen in a screaming challenge, legs outstretched, clearly the wooden herds guardian and leader.

He helped her to sit on the horse, and stood next to her his arm protectively around her back and his other hand covering hers on the brilliant golden pole. "Aren't you going to ride?" she asked nodding to the Bay next to her black stallion. "Not this time, I'm going to make sure you are able to handle him before I let you go" he smiled at her and winked. Temperance did something she never thought she'd ever have the courage to do, as the ride started to move slowly at first, she leaned over and looking him in the eyes, said softly, "never let me go" and let her lips touch his. Their first kiss was soft as butterfly wings; she closed her eyes and sighed when she pulled back.

Face flushed and eyes bright, she was looking down at his shirt collar when he tipped her chin up and said, "I never will, and if this horse wasn't going up and down on this stupid pole, I'd let you kiss me again."

Looking into his eyes, she giggled slightly and said, "I think I've reached my bravery quota for the day!" she then leaned back and laughed a little, "I forgot how much fun it was to ride these" she looked like a little girl and he could feel his heart swell. "I'm glad you're having fun, you need more fun in your life, Tempe," he told her. They stayed on the ride for another couple of minutes and then decided to walk over to where there were some carnival booths set up, the strong man, milk bottle toss and a couple of arcade games.

CHAPTER 21

Booth picked up the large wooden mallet and handed the man a $5 bill, he turned to Temperance and said, and "Which one would you like?" he nodded his head towards the display of stuffed animals and she said, "The dog." The dog in question was a grey bulldog, wearing a yellow Pittsburgh Steelers football jersey. Nodding at the man, Seeley took off his light jacket and braced himself for the swing, he leaned back and brought the mallet down hard on the weight board, the metal disc shot up to the very top of the measurement pole and the bell rang loud and clear. "We have a winner!" the man shouted to the people watching the two of them, "take your dog young lady!" he reached over and handed her the stuffed toy. Roughly the size of a 12 pack of soda, she thought it was the best thing she'd ever been given. The fur was so soft and life like that she felt as if it was a real dog and it was all hers. She smiled up at Seeley as he got his jacket back on and said, "Thank you-I love it!" she leaned in to press her body against his, and the dog was caught in the middle of the hug. "I'm glad, what are you going to name it?" he asked taking it and holding it up to take a better look, "at least it has the right jersey on it, although, a bulldog?" he winked at her handing it back and taking her free hand. She tucked it under her arm and said so softly he almost didn't hear it, "Booth."

"Booth huh? That's as good a name as any" he told her as they walked back towards the parking lot. School was due to let out in 20 minutes and she had to get back to get her things and she had to ride the bus home, there was no telling what would happen if she was late. She didn't want to do anything to jeopardize her Friday night plans. They were almost to the parking lot when he saw a small picture booth on the edge of the path; he tugged slightly and started to head towards it. "What are you doing?" she asked, going along but not sure to what. "It's a picture booth, let's get our picture taken, you want to?"

"Okay sure" she replied, she'd never been in one before. They both entered the very small space and he drew the curtain, there was no way the two of them were going to fit in there comfortably side by side, so he sat down and pulled her into his lap. She put her arm around the back of his neck and put Booth on her lap, they smiled and kidded around for the first couple of flashes, until he leaned over and tilted her head slightly towards his, he looked into her eyes and then slowly closed his as he leaned in to kiss her. Barely grazing her lips at first, he increased the pressure and put his hand onto the back of her neck, slightly stroking it, she gasped slightly and he teased her inner lip with his tongue. She drew back for a second and he stopped, allowing her to decide what to do next. She shifted herself slightly and gently touched his tongue with hers. The electrical shock they both felt intensified the kiss and Booth was forgotten as she and Seeley's lips met and danced. They were both hesitant and explored each other with their lips and tongues, it was slow and sweet. The flash from the photo bulb went off and they both jumped apart. Putting his forehead on hers, his breathing slightly ragged, she said softly, "I've never done that before." Seeley pulled her head back down and pressed his lips to hers again, in a soft, tender movement and then moved his lips down her cheek to her neck, "I've never felt like this before and I know I've never had a kiss like that." Temperance shifted slightly in his lap and he groaned and grabbed her hips, "don't do that, please Tempe, I don't think I can handle it." she blushed and jumped up, almost stepping on Booth and barely avoiding hitting her head on the top of the little room. "Oh my god-I'm so sorry" she was said mortified when she realized that he was having an all too physical reaction to the friction she'd caused when she shifted. "Don't worry," he laughed, "it's okay, don't be scared okay?" he saw the panic in her eyes and tried to reassure her, "you get the pictures from outside and I'll be out in a second okay?" she nodded quickly and pulled the curtain away from the door and stepped outside, her heart pounding and face burning. She walked around to the side of the booth and pulled the pictures out of the tray. Seeley leaned his head back and wiped his hand over his face, get a grip man, he thought, you've kissed girls before…what's wrong with you? He couldn't explain the feeling he had, his body was tingling both from the bulge in his jeans and from a buzzing in his ears and there was a fist clamped around his heart. He felt hot and cold at the same time. Taking a couple of deep breaths, he waited another minute before adjusting himself and stepping out. He picked up Booth and came around where she was leaning up against the booth. Her eyes were closed and she looked as though she was having the same reaction he had. "How'd they come out?" he asked, reaching for the pictures. They were the typically grainy style and they showed them both smiling at the camera, his arm around waist, hers around his neck, the next one was them making a silly face, the next she was holding Booth toward the picture and Seeley was looking at her, and the last one, that one showed the heat of their kiss. "Not bad kid, you ought to be in pictures" he told her handing her Booth and the pictures back. "Can I have one?" he asked. She handed them back and he tore off the one of her showing Booth the camera and him looking at her, "I like this one" he said, tucking it into his wallet they started off to the parking lot again, and back to reality.

Neither of them spoke much on the ride back to school, it was a comfortable silence, when they got there, Temperance put Booth into her locker and grabbed her books. She was afraid to take him home; there was no telling what the Sweets would do. She wouldn't be able to hide him as well as she could the smaller treasures she had. Putting the pictures into her notebook, she would be able to see him anytime she wanted. Hurrying back outside, she didn't see Caroline watching her at her locker and make a phone call as soon as she was out of sight.

Temperance ran back to where Seeley was waiting in the parking lot and told him that she would see him in the morning; she thanked him for the best day of her life and shyly for her first kiss. "It won't be the last one, I promise little girl" he said, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. He wanted nothing more to touch his lips to hers, but realizing he would most likely scare her away, he took the safer route. "I'll see you tomorrow, sleep well" and he was gone, heading to football practice. He would be late, but he found he didn't care at all. This day had had more highs and lows than any other day in his life and he was just going to ride the ride until the end. Waving she headed over to the bus stop and waited for the bus that would take her back to the real world.

When she got home, Temperance was surprised to find a note on the counter. 'Temperance-there is a casserole in the refrigerator, you may have one slice of it, we will be home late-Mom & Dad' She threw the note away, looked at the casserole and decided she wasn't hungry, and since they weren't home, she was going to use the phone to call Angela. She'd never needed a friend so badly in her life than right then.

"Angela?" she asked when the girl came on the line, there was loud music in the background and she wasn't sure she could hear her, "Temper? Are you okay?" Angela said, "Hold on, let me move somewhere more quiet" Angela went from the recording studio to an inner office and shut the door, "there, that's better, Tempe are you alright?" she could see she was calling from home.

"I'm fine, the Sweets aren't here and I needed to talk to you, you'll never believe what happened to me today-where are you?" she asked, wondering why the noise.

"Dad is in town, I'm at the studio hanging out-but tell me about your day!" she told her all businesslike.

Temperance gave her friend a breakdown of her day from start to finish, she told her what Payton had done, although Seeley had never actually told her what she had said, just that it was a game she was playing and then went on to describe the diner, the carousel, Booth, the pictures and the kiss. "Oh Angela- I was so scared, I didn't know what to do, and then well, I mean I knew what happened when guys get…_aroused_…I just didn't know that it could happen with just a kiss!" Temperance could feel her face flame up just thinking about the way he had groaned and touched her hips to stop her from shifting in his lap. She was giddy from the thought.

"Wow! Sounds like little Temperance has got BMOC on the run! Way to go girl, and believe me, if a kiss made that happen, than you are one lucky little girl! How was the kiss? Who kissed who first? Tell me everything!" she was like a little girl herself, although an experienced woman of the world, Angela loved the first kisses the best.

"I feel weird; I don't know how to explain it…" Temperance said, "It was nice, and sweet and well, this is weird, you know what a kiss is like!"

"okay okay Temper- you don't have to give me the details, hold onto that memory kid, it'll turn out to be one of the best ones you ever have-so are you ready for the big _meeting _tomorrow?" she teased.

"yes- I am, I'm going to go to the museum after school, and then Max will take me to the game and then he'll come get me-" Angela cut her off, "I want to go!-I'll meet you there and then bring you back to the museum, how's that?"

"That would be okay, I'll ask Max in the morning when I get to school, um…Angela, can I ask you a question?" she suddenly was slightly embarrassed and afraid.

"Anything kid, what's up?" Angela answered.

"You said once you would get me a phone if I wanted one…and I turned you down because I didn't want to get in trouble, but…well, I was wondering, would you be able to? I can pay you for it as I get my checks, and I won't use a lot of minutes or anything…I was just thinking, maybe, well that I'd like to be able to call you and Max and…"

"And studly?" she broke in.

"Um, yes" she whispered, "if you can't then I totally understand, and I wouldn't ask it's just…just…"

"I know Sweetie, I know. Consider it done, I'll have it for you tomorrow and don't worry about paying for it, I'll take care of that, you talk and text and whatever else you want as long as you want, consider it my gift to you for the next 10 birthdays okay?"

"Thank you Angela, you're my best friend, thank you" she said, "I have to go, I've got homework and I don't want to get in trouble for being on the phone, but thank you"

"Anytime, and you're my best friend too Temperance, I'll see you tomorrow. Oh-and one more thing, hold onto today nice and tight. This is one of those memories people write songs about!"

They hung up and Temperance went upstairs to do her homework and relive her first kiss…

CHAPTER 22

The next day, Friday, Temperance took her St. Agnes Hoody and the sweat pants & scarf Angela had bought for her and put them in her backpack. She carried her books separately and hoped that she could get out of the house without the Spanish Inquisition. If they asked, she was prepared to tell them the training tonight was going to be hands on, so she needed to be suitably prepared. Checking her reflection one last time, she was pleased to see the bruise on her forehead was a shadow of its former self, and the cut was going to heal without a major scar. Her knee was stiff, but not nearly as bad either. She checked her ponytail and then grinned foolishly because she'd never cared enough before.

When she got downstairs, Rebecca told her they would be at the museum at 10pm to pick her up. Since the game started at 7 that was going to be cutting it close, but she would just enter the museum from the rear entrance if she had to and come out that way. She was going to call Max when she got to school to let him know that Angela would be bringing her back. So, at least he could run interference if she was a little bit past 10. She told Rebecca that they should just be wrapping it up by then, and that she would meet her out front. Grabbing a roll and a pint of juice, she left the house and walked quickly to the bus stop. Angela was already there, which was a surprise, because as far as Temperance knew, 7am was not even on Angela's clock.

"What are you doing here so early?" she asked, getting into Angela's sports car. Yawning, Angela handed her the cell phone and said, "I wanted to give you some instructions on how to use it and how to get numbers in there and stuff, now, it's preprogrammed with all of my numbers, including my dad's tour bus and manager, it's got Max's numbers on it and since I had studly's, his cell phone is in there too. You can add ringtones, pictures and all that stuff later, we can do it at work on the internet there if you want." She then launched into a detailed explanation of how to change things and to make it silent or vibrate for when Temperance was at school or home. Driving to school almost on autopilot, she showed her how to text, reply and send messages. Once they got there, Tempe felt pretty confident, she told Angela, "thank you again for this, it means everything to me…" looking down as she got out the car she realized Angela was wearing pink Happy Bunny slippers, she started to giggle and then said, "I can't believe you drove all the way here in your slippers! You must have really wanted me to have this phone!"

Angela looked down and wiggled one foot, "I just wanted you to be happy Sweetie, you deserve it, besides no one gets me out of bed this early, so feel special okay? I'll see you at the museum tonight, I'll have one of dad's trucks and meet you by the loading dock just in case the Sweets stake the joint out okay?" she winked and floored it, narrowly missing a beat up old Chevy truck packed full of football players that had just arrived. Tempe laughed and headed to her locker. She took Booth out of it and took his picture with her new phone, looking shyly around the corridor that was slowly filling up, she attached the picture to a text, "Good morning, guess who?" she sent to Seeley. Trying to hide her impatience at his response, she struggled to hide the idiotic grin on her face. Suddenly, the screen started flashing and it buzzed in her hand. She almost dropped her books, thinking the entire school could hear it. She looked around, and no one had even noticed. She opened up the message and her smile brightened up the hall when she read, "Hi Bone Lady-Good morning to you and Booth too, turn around."

Turning around she didn't see anything at first, and then across the hall she saw him leaning against the wall. Khaki slacks, dark brown Doc Martens, a white button down shirt, St. Agnes tie and his football jersey. She reached out to grab her locker door; sure her knees were going to give out on her. His steady chocolate gaze sent ripples of anticipation through her whole body and set off fireworks in both her heart and her stomach. Not to mention the heat that flooded her pelvic area. She saw his flip his phone closed and start to cross the hall to get to her. She slowly closed hers and leaned back against the lockers when he got close. She never took her eyes off of his and he never wavered, he pressed up against her, both hands on either side of her against the lockers. He leaned in and casually brushed her cheek with his lips and then when she sighed and turned her head slightly and sought his mouth with hers, the crowded hallway disappeared. All they could feel was each other, the heat from their bodies, her sweet honeyed taste and his strong male reaction. "Get a room" someone snarled as they walked by and she blushed and broke the kiss off, her eyes wide. Softly he chuckled and said quietly near her ear, his breath tickling her neck and rolling unknown until now spasms of desire through her core, "they're jealous." She nodded mutely as he backed away slightly; still standing very near her in a very distinct this girl is mine pose.

He nodded at the phone still clutched in her hand and said, "I see you got one huh? Was it Angela?"

"Yes, I told her it was impractical not to have one at this juncture in my life, I mean what if something happens when I'm waiting for the bus or something after work, it's darker earlier now because of winter coming on, and often I have to work until close…and well, plus…well I wanted to be able to talk to you whenever I wanted, and not just through the radio station." She finished demurely, her face flushed slightly pink, both from his proximity and her rationale for the phone. "I know Bone Lady-I like the radio thing too, but this will be much better, and I'll give you a ride home after work, you don't need to wait for the bus…" she interrupted him and said, "We've discussed that, I have to do it this way, the Sweets are not going to like me being brought home by you" "what if I meet them?" he said knowing that he would never win this argument they'd already had it a couple of times now, "No, I have to do this" she said, probably more forcefully than she had intended, there was a crease in her brow and normally he thought it was cute, he thought of it as her confused line, but clearly she was not confused about this, "Okay, Okay, you win Bone Lady, I give in, I do like the radio thing though, it's nice to do, I hope we can still communicate that way too?" they'd been requesting songs for the past couple of nights and each time she always felt, as he did, closer.

"Definitely" she answered, smiling brightly up at him again. The bell rang for class and the hall started to empty as kids headed off to their classes. This afternoon was early release for the pep rally, the entire school would be on the field, watching the seniors get introduced and generating the school spirit they would need to defeat their rival. Not wanting her to be late, but wanting to do something extraordinary today, Seeley stripped off his jersey and handed it to her, "please wear this today?" he asked, his eyes melting into hers. "It would mean a lot to me, and I'm sure it would give me luck this afternoon, I can get it back from you right before you go to the museum to wait for Angela. I can't meet you at lunch today because I have to do some stuff with the team, so will you please wear it? For me?"

Subconsciously knowing this was a huge deal in the high school realm, she agreed to wear it. "You won't get in trouble?" she asked nervously as he held her books and she put it on. It draped clear to her knees, she glanced down and giggled. "No, all the seniors let their girlfriends wear their jerseys on their last game day, its tradition" he told her handing her back her books and reaching down to bring the hem of the shirt up. His knuckle lightly grazed her upper thigh and both of them froze for a second, their eyes meeting, his darkening to almost black and her's going a very bright blue. The tip of her tongue slid out to gently moisten her bottom lip and he watched her like a hawk, "I'm your girlfriend?" she asked quietly, hearing the second warning bell, but not caring about school at all. "Yeah, I thought you knew that?" he told her huskily, he wanted to remove the shirt she'd just put on, and everything underneath it right then and there, is willpower was shattering slowly…He leaned in and kissed her lips softly, gently probing with his tongue until she opened her mouth and met his with hers. Moaning softly he leaned in and raised his hand to her hip, taking the jersey with it.

"Ahem, Mr. Booth?" a man's voice coughed and interrupted them. Looking around, Seeley saw Coach Hodgins and AD Hacker, "uh, yes Sir, sorry Sir" he said turning slightly to hid Tempe behind him, the two men looked over and the scene and AD Hacker said, "well, let's not be late to class okay? Miss? Can I escort you so there is no tardy slip?" he winked at Coach Hodgins and started towards Temperance. "Yes please, Sir" she said, her face was flaming with embarrassment. She handed Booth to Booth and headed off with the Athletic Director.

"So, the rumors are true, Mr. Booth? I hope this young lady will not be a distraction to you this afternoon?" the man started to walk with Seeley, after he had secured Booth into her locker. "I know that she is a little younger than you, and I've asked the teachers, she's had a very difficult life, you aren't adding to that are you? She's not a ploy to get the attention of your former flame or anything is she?" he asked him. He'd heard a lot about the little sophomore, and there was a note of personal interest in her file that even she didn't know about, two notes in fact. One from a local scientist and one from an international recording star, both of them stating almost word for word that they were in constant contact with CPS regarding the young student and that either one of them were to be notified if there were any issues of violence, neglect or mistreatment by her current foster parents. When he'd read the names on the notes, he was very impressed and wondered if the girl knew just who had her interests at heart. He'd also wondered about his star running back and whether he knew just what he was doing, seeing the way that Seeley had acted protectively with her just now, he realized that he didn't need to worry about anything on that front. It was obvious even to him, a high school gym teacher and football coach that this boy was in love with this girl. A tale as old as time, he thought.

"No sir, no distraction, I just didn't get a chance to give her my jersey, and you know…its tradition" he glanced down and grinned. "Yes, tradition, off to class Mr. Booth, and please no more PDA in the halls, that's not tradition, and I don't want my starting RB to get a detention today okay?" he winked and headed off to the gym and the class of freshmen that were waiting for him as Seeley headed off to Government. "Yes Coach-see you later" he laughed and jogged off.

CHAPTER 23

Everywhere that Temperance went today was instantly silent as she walked by, every class, every hall, everywhere. The buzz that started every class before the teachers took over was cut off mid stream as she walked in, head down to her seat. She was afraid to meet anyone's eyes, she could feel the curiosity and in some rare cases the open hostility coming off of the other students in waves. Deciding that tradition or not, she was going to take this jersey off at lunch made her stomach feel a little better, for a brief moment. In the next instant, she hoped though, that it didn't send the wrong message to Seeley, maybe she could put a note in his locker? Or text him? Of course, she didn't even know where his locker was, and if she got caught with her cell phone out, it would be the shortest time in history before someone lost one as the school had a very strict no phone policy during school hours.

Now, her stomach in even more knots, she sat quietly in Physics and tried desperately to figure out a way to get a message to Angela, she would know what to do. Temperance could feel someone staring at her, and glanced around to try and see who it was. She dropped her pencil to use picking it up as an excuse to look behind her and saw Caroline Julian sitting at the back of the room, glaring daggers at her. She had never even spoken to her, although she knew she was part of Payton's 'coven' as Seeley called them. She thought the Caroline was a very pretty girl, bi-racial with light red hair; she was wearing a football jersey of her own. Temperance had no idea whose it was; she assumed their names were on the back. She turned back to the front of the room, and tucked her head down, determined to try and get through this class and the next before lunch.

Because of the pep rally, classes were shorter today and they were only in them for 45 minutes instead of the usual 90, so they would be able to get through all of them before the long weekend. Finally the bell rang, Temperance took her time gathering up her things, when she heard a voice right next to her say, "I hope you like all the attention you're getting little girl, because it's all going to change real soon…you messed with the wrong girl!" turning towards the voice, Caroline was standing there, snapping her gum, her eyes bright with anger, "Payton is going to get you, I hope you're prepared, because when she's done with you, Seeley isn't going to want anything to do with you ever again!-just be ready!" she smiled, winked and walked off.

Temperance took a breath and tried to calm down; as she walked away she saw the name on the back of the shirt was, "BRAY". She went straight to the nearest girl's restroom and locked herself in a stall. Setting her books down on the back of the toilet, she took the jersey off and looked at it. CC was on the left shoulder and "BOOTH" was stitched across the back. She assumed that it had to have some sort of moniker on it, otherwise why would everyone be staring at her so blatantly. I've upset the status quo, she thought. Ordinarily that would actually make her smile somewhat, never a social butterfly it amused her the way the cliques and cultures clashed even here in school. She could only imagine the school was made up of separate tribes and villages, all struggling to show dominance, and survive, and for her to be the one to cause a ripple in that, it just seemed absurd. She was a nobody.

Practically homeless, no real family and no friends, except for an exotic diva and a museum scientist. Oh, and the most popular boy in school, let's not forget him she thought. Sighing she leaned against the stall and was going to start grabbing her books when she heard the door open, something told her to not come out, it must have been the cold shiver that raced up her spine. She carefully put her feet up and perched on the back of the toilet, hoping that the locked door would not be breeched.

"What did the little roach say?" Payton's voice was heavy with hatred, Caroline said, "she didn't say anything, she just gave me this poor little mouse look, and that was it" I left to come find you; I don't know what class she has next, so don't know where she is at. "I've got her in my Sociology class" Daisy piped up, "you want me to threaten her next?" She was actually looking forward to it, Caroline and Payton only let her hang around them because of Fischer, and she wanted to prove to them that she was just as bad as they were. "no-don't say anything to her, just put this on her desk after class before she leaves, don't speak, just give it to her okay?"

Payton was very specific with her, she thought Fischer could do better than the annoying junior he'd picked, but for some reason they'd been together since he was a freshman, so they all hung out together. She found her annoying at the best of times, but seeing as Fischer was Seeley's best friend, and Caroline was her best friend, the six of them stayed tight as a group. Well, they were tight until Seeley messed it all up by jumping ship. Payton didn't know what irritated her more, was it that he left her or that he picked a nerd to replace her?

Handing her a photo, Payton checked her makeup and said, "Let's go, the bell is going to ring, and I can't miss the rally, I'm the head cheerleader after all" they all left the bathroom and headed off to class. Temperance exhaled the breath she had been holding and slowly got off of the toilet tank. She was trembling and her face was pale when she checked her reflection in the mirror as she left. She'd made up her mind, as soon as Sociology was over, she was heading to the parking lot to call Angela, and she didn't care what happened.

Once she got to class, once again barely under the bell, she looked for Daisy Wick. Seeing the girl at the back of the class; also wearing a jersey that could only say FISCHER on the back. Deciding to accept whatever she had in store for her with grace and dignity she held her head up high. One more class, and she was done for the day. She hoped. Her emotions were on raw right now. When she sat down, she opened her notebook and looked at the photos hidden in the back. Seeing him staring at the camera while he held her, and their kiss made her blush, but gave her a little extra strength as well. She looked straight ahead and concentrated as much as she could on the lecture, taking a note here and there, she was counting down the minutes with each tick of the clock.

**CHAPTER 24**

Throughout his day Seeley was also regarded with a quiet kind of awe. No one said anything to him about Temperance wearing his jersey, but he heard the whispers and felt the staring. Knowing he could handle anything they threw at him, his only concern was how she was holding up. Normally, he could feel where she was at and today, his radar was all off. He'd see her occasionally in the halls on any other day, today; he wasn't able to catch that glimpse. That made him feel even worse, as he had started to need them, crave them. It's what got him through the morning until lunch, and then to the end of the day. It must be because the classes are shorter today he reasoned. He'd never felt like this before, he felt like he didn't take a breath until he saw her for the first time in the morning. It'd had only been a little over a week since he had first talked to her, and she was now so ingrained in his system that oxygen and food were the only other things he needed to survive, or so it seemed.

He was planning on asking her to be his girlfriend, rather than just assuming, but when he saw her this morning, it seemed as though there was no way she could be anything but. He wished that he had someone he could talk to. Jared was a punk, and although he was his brother, they weren't that close. His Pops would tell him not to get too wrapped up in one girl, although he would support him. He could ask his mom, but that relationship was strained as well. Sighing slightly, Seeley wondered when things became so complicated. All he wanted to do was love her. LOVE HER? What the hell? He couldn't possibly love her after only two weeks, could he? He was just a senior in high school, what did he know about love anyway. He did know that everything he thought was love with Payton wasn't even close to what he felt for her. He was happy just seeing her smile, just hearing her voice. Hell, even hearing a song she had dedicated to him made his chest swell. You're whipped Seeley, you're whipped and you haven't even gotten in the saddle. The thought made him smile and shake his head, maybe this was love. He didn't care; he just didn't want the feeling to stop.

Deciding he had better concentrate on his English Lit class and not his _girlfriend_, a small smile slipped out, he would try to see her before he met the rest of the team for lunch. He slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out the now slightly creased picture, the one he had taken from the photo booth tape. She was so cute, holding her 'Booth' towards the camera. His gaze was focused on her face, and he remembered exactly what he had been thinking in that moment, he was thinking he was the luckiest guy to ever live, and although Payton had just dropped a bombshell on him, he found that he didn't care. He hadn't even thought of that part of the day until now. Payton hadn't said anymore to him, and he hadn't gotten any angry calls from her parents. Wondering if he had called her bluff, or if the other shoe was going to drop, he'd pushed their conversation from his mind. He'd have to sit down with her and talk, he realized, surely she could see reason?

It dawned on him that the rest of the class had taken out their books and were silently reading along as the teacher read to them from Romeo & Juliet. Ah, great he thought, just what I need a tragic romantic tale. That ought to keep my mind off of her. Just thinking of her, the brunette hair, shy smile and blue eyes was enough to make his pants tight, if that's all it takes to get you interested Mr. Booth, he thought, than you are in real trouble! This time, when he looked at his book, he forced himself to concentrate on the text and was soon immersed in the story of teen romance gone wrong.

After EL class, Seeley decided to make a detour to her locker on his way to the gym, it would be a tight squeeze, time wise, hopefully she would make a brief appearance and he could get his fix.

The bell rang and Temperance simply waited for the inevitable. She had the advantage in that she knew Daisy was going to bring her something, so she dawdled with her books and waited until the room cleared. Daisy walked by and said scathingly, "think about your position, Temperance, think hard" and dropped a photo on her desk.

It was a shot of her and Seeley standing beside his car, outside the museum, the night that he had come to talk to her. It was also clearly date and time stamped. Her heart thudded in her chest and then sank down to her stomach. If the Sweets got one of these, they would know she had lied, they would know that she had been lying to them still, especially tonight. They were following me? She thought, I can't believe it, what am I going to do? Feeling her eyes fill, she blinked rapidly and headed to her locker. When she got there, the hall was mostly deserted, she opened the locker and two things fell out. A picture of her and Seeley at the curb outside her house, also time date stamped, this time it was when he dropped her off, that same night. The other thing was a short note, "Hi Bone Lady-sorry I missed you-I'll look for you before the pep rally, I'll need my jersey for it-by the trees? BMOC" she looked around and stuffed the picture into the locker, grabbing Booth, she buried her face in his fur and let a few tears fall, then headed off to the parking lot to call Angela…

CHAPTER 25

While Brennan was explaining what was going on to Angela, Payton and her minions were planning the next stage of the upset they were planning. Hopefully, they would be able to keep up the physiological warfare. Payton knew that what she needed to hammer on was Temperance's own insecurities and to do so, she was going to start exploiting the girl and Seeley too for that matter. Daisy and Caroline were all on board. Convincing Fischer and Wendell was going to be a little more difficult, but Payton rarely lost, so she wasn't too worried about it. She told the girls what they needed to let the boys in on, and she would take care of the rest of it. Although Caroline and Daisy were willing to go along with Payton, they had specifically told her they wouldn't do anything that hurt either of the two of them, nothing graphic. "I'm not stupid", Payton said, "I'm not going to risk going to jail, or anything happening to me over this, I'm just going to make him pay a little for humiliating me."

Angela was definitely concerned, she asked Temperance, "Do you want me to call the police or something? We should report this, it's stalking, and you know who is doing it. I could call my dad's lawyer?" Tempe wasn't sure what to do, she and Angela talked back and forth and decided to just wait and see what happened next. Maybe if they didn't react, Payton would get bored and leave them alone. "I'm worried about Seeley though", Tempe told Angela, "What if she does something to him that affects him long term? I mean, I've read stories and seen programs, some girls go crazy and try to kill their ex boyfriends for things like this, what if she is capable of that?" Angela could really sense the worry in her voice, but couldn't believe that she was so concerned about his life over her own. "Don't you think that she may try something like that with you too? If she's that crazy?" she asked her, "It's not out of the question, you know"

"I doubt it, she knows if she pushes me far enough I'll leave him alone, I'd rather not see him hurt, so if it gets that far, I'll walk away."

"Walk away? You'll just walk away from him without looking back? You'll give in?" Angela was incredulous, "are you listening to yourself? You'd hand him over to her without a fight? After all the things you say he's made you feel and all the things you feel for him, you could do that so easily?"

"I didn't say it would be easy, but if it came down to him being safe and me being unhappy, I'll choose his safety every time. There's no reason for me to think otherwise, it would be selfish of me to put my happiness before his safety, don't you see that?" She couldn't understand why Angela wasn't agreeing with her.  
"No Sweetie, I don't see that, I see you getting scared and rather than standing up for yourself, I see you running away and leaving him to fight the battle alone. That's what I see. But, this isn't the time or place to debate it, I'll see you this afternoon at the museum, and we'll go to the game, eat popcorn cheer for the BMOC and point out the cheerleader's mistakes. We'll have a good time, and then we can worry about what the ex is going to do later, okay?" telling her goodbye and to be careful just in case, Angela hung up. She debated about 30 seconds before making a phone call. After explaining what she knew, she felt better and decided she was going to go to the gym to try to reduce her stress before the game. Sometimes being the best friend to a 16 year old kid was hard on a person.

Temperance hurriedly ate her lunch and headed back to her locker to get her bag and check on Booth. She felt silly, it was just a stuffed dog, but she was attached to it. When she got there, there was a note stuck to her locker. 'Meet me at gym, Seeley.' Wondering why he wanted her there rather than under the trees as he said earlier, she decided to head down there. When she got there, there were some people milling around, but she didn't see him anywhere. Not sure whether she should go in or not, she walked around to the back to see if he was there. When she was out of view of the school, she felt the presence of another person behind her. She turned quickly and came face to face with Payton.

"Would you look at that" she drawled, "She's wearing my jersey-don't you know that belongs to me princess? Now, why would you want to take something that isn't yours?" she said, cornering Temperance up against the wall of the gym.  
"Seeley gave this to me to wear today, he said it was tradition" she told Payton, trying to keep the quiver from her voice. "Oh, it is tradition hon, it's tradition for the girlfriend to wear it, not the piece of a$$ on the side, so we can do this one of two ways, you can give me the jersey and walk away, or I can take it off of you-which would you prefer?" Temperance thought she might have had a chance against her until Caroline and Daisy showed up. Once she was surrounded, she decided to save everyone the trouble of a fight and just give in to Payton. After all, it was just a stupid jersey. It didn't matter…really.

Temperance took the jersey off and flung it at Payton. She then turned to go, "wait, where are you going?" Caroline asked. "You got what you wanted Payton, leave me alone" Temperance said, "I didn't do anything to you, he talked to me, so if you want to be mad at someone, be mad at him, I've done nothing wrong"

"Oh-you've done plenty wrong Temperance Brennan, you've messed around with my boyfriend, you've messed up my future, and you've made yourself a nuisance, you just don't know when to give up do you?" Temperance was looking around, desperately hoping someone would come around the corner of the gym, anyone. "No one's' coming precious, their all heading to the field for the pep rally" Daisy said looking at her watch, "In fact, ladies, we should be going too-we don't want to get in trouble."

"You two go ahead, I've got one more thing to tell little Miss Home Wrecker here" Payton said, handing her gym bag to Caroline, watching them leave, she leaned over and placed one hand on either side of Temperance's head against the wall. Leaning in close she whispered, "I don't know what he promised you, or what he's given you, but I hope it was enough to think about when he's gone…because he's given me something that's going to bind us together for the rest of our lives, if you know what I mean" she reached down and patted her stomach, "he's good isn't he? Really knows his way around a bed that Seeley does…I hope you got a little taste of it Sweetheart, because starting tonight, he's all mine…" she winked and left Temperance there against the wall.

Flushed and trembling, all she could think of was getting away and never coming back. There was no way she was going to the pep rally or the game now. He'd gotten Payton pregnant? And was trying to get close to her now? Temperance was so lost and confused. Gathering up her own bag, she headed around the other side of the gym towards the parking lot. She saw the football players all coming out of a side door and she ducked behind a tree so that they didn't see her. Blinded with fear, anger and tears she just wanted to get away. She saw Seeley break away and head over to the trees, and she felt a great stabbing pain in her chest. She so badly wanted to be there, but she couldn't face him.

When she got to the parking lot, she knew the soonest bus to the city center was at least an hour or more, so she'd decided to just sit on the curb, then head to the museum when the bus came. She'd tell Angela then, and that would be the end of it. She knew if she called Angela now, she would come down here and make her confront Payton, and she wasn't going to do that. Listening to the loudspeaker, she heard the school band start in on the fight song; she figured that most of the students were there, she could hear the low buzz of the crowd. Resisting the urge to not watch, she went as far to the edge of the parking lot that she could, where she could see both the field and the bus stop. She watched the band come out on the field in formation and march around, then the football players all came out in a rush from one end, bursting through a paper flag with their school name on it.

Only one of the seniors wasn't wearing his jersey. Creeping closer to the edge of the field, and still staying out of sight, she watched the football players' line up to get introduced. As each player's name was called, his picture and number flashed on the electronic screen in the end zone. As co-captain of the team, Seeley's name was the second to the last to be called, as he stepped forward, she strained to hear what Coach Hodgins was saying, "Number 51, Co-Captain, Running Back, Seeley Booth" Seeley stepped forward and waived to the crowd, desperately searching for a little brunette wearing a maroon jersey. "Mr. Booth, what happened to your jersey? Are you not suiting up this game?" Coach Hodgins was jokingly asking him, and just then, a blonde cheerleader bounced up and did handsprings over to where the team was standing, "I believe I can explain that Coach" she said into the microphone. Walking over to where Seeley stood, she stripped the jersey off and handed it to him, "Guess there was a mistake made earlier huh Seeley?" she said quietly before reaching up to kiss his cheek and bounding back to the rest of the cheerleaders. The crowd was mostly silent, a few people applauded, but most of them sat in shock. No one saw that coming. "Well, yes, okay the mystery of the jersey is solved apparently, and introducing our other co-captain…" Coach Hodgins voice droned on, but Temperance was no longer listening. She could only imagine what must be going through Seeley's mind right now. I'm sorry Seeley, she whispered.

The band and cheerleaders came back out on the field and the football players went to the bottom bleachers to watch the rest of the rally. Tempe's cell phone began to vibrate, looking down, she saw an incoming text, and "Where are you?" was all it said. She let it go and began to walk back towards the bus stop. Another text, "Temperance-call me", she deleted this one too, and just as she was began to shut the phone off, she got another one; "I don't know what is going on, if you don't call me, I'll come find you". Knowing that he would, which would get him in trouble and make him not be able to play most likely, she texted back, "I'm fine, something came up, good luck tonight" and then she turned her phone off. Wiping the tears from her cheeks she sat at the bus stop and waited for the night to be over.

CHAPTER 26

Booth tried calling her repeatedly and got nothing but a message stating there was no voicemail set up yet. Watching Payton, Booth was angry. He knew just exactly "had come up" and he was going to get to the bottom of it sooner rather than later. He didn't even care about the game, he just wanted to find Tempe and tell her that it was all going to be okay. First, he had to deal with Payton. When the cheerleaders headed off the field the pep rally was over, the team was supposed to head to the gym and locker rooms for film tapes before the game. They weren't going to run a mini practice, just relax and mentally prepare for the game. Booth strode over to her and grabbed her upper arm and walked her off the field, "Let me go Seeley! I swear if you don't let go of me I'm going to scream!" She started to work herself up into a genuine scream and he tightened his grip, "You scream Payton and it'll only be worse for you" he said forcefully. When they got to the far side of the field, the opposite side of the trees and away from the departing crowd, he pointed to the field and said, "What the hell happened, where is Tempe and how did you get my jersey? You better start talking Payton, I'm not playing games anymore" he crossed his arms and glared at her.

"Seeley what is going on? Why did that tramp have your jersey?" she asked him, ice in her eyes.

"That 'tramp' is my girlfriend Payton, so watch it" he snarled his answer, "why are you so obsessed with me, weren't you the one that told me that there were 'hundreds of guys' that wanted to be in my position? What do you want? I'm not going to get back together with you. Even if Temperance and I break up, I'm still not coming back to you, I've moved on! Figure it out for crying out loud!"

"I don't accept that Seeley, you promised me; remember in 9th grade, 'we'll always be together Payton, no matter what! Well, this is 'no matter what' Seeley and a promise is a promise" she said stubbornly.

"9th grade? You're basing all of this on something I said 4 years ago? What about all the times you told me, 'I promise Seeley, it was a mistake, I'll never cheat on you again', what about that? How many times did I come back to you, how many 'one more chances' did I give you? Did you think I was going to wait around forever? Please-you're delusional Payton and you need to grow up and move on and if you EVER pull a stunt like that again, I will make sure your parents know just how easy you really are. Don't talk to me, don't talk to Temperance and don't even think I'm afraid of this baby story you've got cooked up. I would have been willing to walk away and just be friends Payton, we've been through a lot of things over the years, but I will not let you hurt her"

"HER!" She screamed, "Hurt her? What about me Seeley? One minute you and I are screwing each other's brains out every chance we get, making plans, talking about colleges and then the next thing I know, that little b!tch has my boyfriend on a leash and is twitchin' her little virgin $$ all over campus wearing what is rightfully mine! I put up with all your, 'what am I going to do Payton, my brother needs me, my dad is out of control, we need to stay with my Pops, what should I do, football or hockey, blah blah blah' I listened to all that crap, I held you when you cried-what about me Seeley Booth? I put in a lot of time to get out of this place and now what? You're going after some two bit dork like she's a b!tch in heat and where does that leave me? My senior year, no boyfriend, no prom date, no plans for college, NOTHING! So spare me the 'poor me' speech, I've heard all of them I'm going to listen to-either you figure it out and grow up yourself, or so help I'm going to screw you six ways till Sunday Seeley Joseph Booth, I'll spill everything. EVERYTHING. Do you understand me? There won't be one person that doesn't know what your dad did to you. Do you really think you have anything on me that is worse than that? I own you Seeley, don't forget it!" She started to walk away and he grabbed her arm to stop her.

He softly whispered into her ear, "Don't push me Payton-you watch it-I've got things on you as well, things that I'm sure the Col and his wife would never want to hear about their lily pure daughter Payton Joy. You think I'm just this big dumb jock that is just going to roll over and let you hold me hostage, guess again princess…you don't scare me" he let go of her arm roughly and walked away.

Rubbing her arm she said to herself, "that's it Seeley, that b!tch is mine"

Chapter 27

Seeley pulled out his phone as he walked back to the gym, his hands were shaking, he'd never touched a girl like that, and he felt like a criminal. Payton wasn't going to get away with this, he didn't care if anyone knew about the abuse he'd had at his dad's hands. Lots of kids were abused. It used to embarrass him, but not anymore. That didn't define him, who he was as a person. That was just something that happened to the person that he was. He knew that his Pops had given him and Jared a much better life, he knew he was loved and he knew the kind of man he wanted to be. He could only be that man because of the things that had gone in his life, and if Payton wanted to tell the world, he no longer cared. Right now, all he wanted to do was find Temperance, make sure she was okay and tell her in no uncertain terms that he was going to be there for her, no matter what crap Payton had planned. Already wishing the game was over; he dialed Angela and hoped she would answer.

"Talk to me, it's the lovely Angel" her voicemail came on immediately, "Angela-it's Seeley, something happened today and I don't know what it was, Temperance doesn't have her phone on, I don't know where she is and I'm not in a position to go look for her. Please find her Angela, I don't even care if she comes to the game tonight, I just need to know she is safe, please? I think Payton may have scared her, please tell her when you find her, that I…tell her that I'll call her tonight, the minute the game is over, please Angela?" He hung up and jogged into the gym, looking at the clock, he'd been MIA for about 30 minutes and Coach Hodgins was going to be pissed. If he wasn't a senior he'd definitely be riding the pine pony tonight.

The bus finally showed up and Tempe got on and rode it downtown to the museum. She went inside and straight to the employee break room. She started in on her homework, but was halfway through the book before realizing she was trying to do a Physics paper with a Geography textbook. She cupped her chin in her hand and gazed at the wall. She tried hard to forget everything that happened after Seeley gave her his jersey to wear. All she could think about was how hard Payton was trying to get to her. She turned her phone on, and saw 4 missed calls and a text. "I don't care what happened-please call me-BMOC", deciding she at least owed him that, she called his number.

"Hey-it's Booth-leave a message" she looked at the time, it was 6:15 and he would be getting ready for the game, she hung up without saying anything.

Angela breezed into the break room and said, "You're not ready! What the hell Temper? I thought you'd be changed already, come on girly; we got to hustle or no good seats for us!"

"I'm not going Angela" she told her, "I can't" and she explained everything that went down that day.  
"You are going to that game if I have to drag you. You are not going to let that little spoiled rotten little whore get her way. You are going to go, you are going to cheer for your man, you are going to hold your head high, and you are going to go get dressed now!" she told her standing up and pointing to the dressing room. "Get your skinny little $$ in there before I dress you myself" as Tempe started to protest, Angela held up her hand and said, "I do not want to hear it, now go"-This is not going to be as easy as I thought, but nobody messes with my friends and gets away with it, who the hell does Barbie think she is anyway? I'll crush her like a bug she thought to herself, still pointing at the dressing room and making shooing motions to Temperance. Smiling faintly and hoping that she would live to see the end of the night, Tempe went to change. Angela had gone to the student store earlier and bought her a pair of St. Agnes sweatpants, a maroon and gold scarf and a pennant. Wearing his hoody, Temperance looked like she had been going to games her whole life. When she came out of the dressing room, she saw that Angela had put on her own St. Agnes attire, a gold hoody, maroon skinny jeans and she'd put a paw print on her cheek. "Come here Sweetie, you're next" she took a second to paint a 51 on one cheek and a paw print on her other cheek. She'd also made some sort of poster, grabbing their stuff, the two girls headed out the back of the museum to the loading area. Angela led them over to an oversized silver F150 pickup, jacked up 6" or more, huge tires and lights to brighten the darkest forest. "This is some truck, Ange" Temperance said grabbing onto the chrome bar next to the door and putting her foot on the chrome step plate. "This old thing? I only drive it to impress the boys!" she grinned and gunned it out of the parking lot. They made the school in record time and she said, "Before we go in there, I want you to listen to something" she pressed playback on her phone and Tempe was listening to his earlier call to Angela. "Now, does that sound like someone who doesn't want to be with you?" she asked her.

"No, it doesn't" Tempe said, "Well, then quit acting like Payton is Freddy and stiffen that spine!"

"Who's Freddy?" Temperance asked.

"Never mind Sweetie, never mind! Let's go watch some football! Yeah PANTHERS!" she hollered jumping down out of the truck, the people in the parking lot were just staring at the giant silver truck and the beautiful girl who just dropped out of it. Then when Temperance climbed down, they all started talking and pointing. Noticing it, Angela turned to the crowd that was closest and said, "What's the matter? Never seen two hot girls get out of a truck before? You all better watch it; you know who this girl is? Her boyfriend is the bad-ass running back on this team, don't make me call him!" the people walking by laughed nervously and headed off to the field. Turning and winking, she said, "let's go little girl, we've got an entrance to make".

The two girls headed up to the ticket booth and Angela bought two, along with a program and a player roster. Then they headed into the home field stands, "step aside, girlfriend and best friend of Seeley Booth coming through, step aside please, Seeley Booth girlfriend coming through" Angela chanted and plowed through the bleachers, dragging a bewildered Temperance behind her. Once she was where she wanted them to sit, she laid out a St. Agnes Panthers blanket on the bleachers and told Temperance to sit. "Okay, where is he Sweetie? Point him out to me" she indicated with her head to the guys standing on the sideline. Temperance looked around and didn't see him at first, then a jersey that said, GOODMAN moved over and she said, "Right there! Number 51, there he is!" Following where she was pointing, Angela stood up and whistled as loud as she could. People on the other side of the field looked to see where the whistle came from, "Wow Angela-I didn't know you could do that" Temperance said looking up at her friend, "Well, I have to be able to let my dad know when I'm at one of his shows!" the football players all turned to see the pretty brunette standing on the bleacher with her folded poster that said 'BMOC! GOOD LUCK! BONE LADY & ANGEL'.

Seeley recognized her right away and started to head over to the bleachers, "Booth-get your ass back over here," Coach Hodgins hollered. "Yes Sir, just a second!" he jogged over and jumped over the small concrete divider and then to the bleachers themselves, "TEMPE!" he yelled, Angela nudged her arm and told her to hustle down there before he got in trouble. The crowd in front of her parted and even helped her down the bleachers, she'd never moved to gracefully before, just as she got to the bottom the marching band started to play the school fight song and she knew she was going to cut it close, "Seeley! Good luck, I'm sorry" she told him, "Never mind Bone Lady, you're here, wait for me after the game please?" he asked, his eyes boring into hers. "I will" she told him, "if I can, I can't be late" she didn't want to talk about that now! She wanted him to go to the team and play hard, "Go Seeley, it's almost time" she shooed him off, "I'm glad you came Tempe, I'll see you Bone Lady" he turned to go at the same time she did, turning back he yelled up to her, "I love you!"

The crowd disappeared. Suddenly she thought she was alone in the world, no sound but the echo of his words, turning to look back at him; he was the only other person on the field. He winked and waved and then color returned to the world, the sound flooded back and she was inundated with the noise, the people, the sights, the smells. She started to sway a bit and a man reached over and grabbed her arm and her side and said, "hold on sister, you don't want to fall" she looked at him blankly and Angela came over and grabbed her other arm, "Thank you, I've got her" she told the man, holding Temperance's hand, she led her to the stairs and the easiest way back to their seats, "Come on Sweetie, let's go sit down, you can pass out and I can watch the game…"

CHAPTER 28

Booth headed back to the sideline where Coach Hodgins bopped him on the head with his clipboard, grabbed his facemask and pointed to the crowd where he manually shook Booth's head back and forth, and then turning him to the field, he nodded his head up and down. The rest of the team laughed and they all relaxed and got ready for the game ahead. This was their only chance to get into the State Championship game, if they won, they were in, if not, than they would be done for the season. All of the seniors were hoping for a win, the last time they'd been to a SC game was their freshman year and they had lost. Each senior class since then had tried and just not quite had what it took. Hodgins and Hacker believed in them though. They thought this was the team that was going to make it happen for the St. Agnes Panthers.

Booth & the other captain ran out on to the field and met the other team's captains as well as the referee's. Flipping the coin, St. Agnes decided to receive the opening kick. Shaking hands, they pointed to the north end zone and headed back to their sideline. Booth and the rest of the offense gathered, held hands, said a quick prayer and then waited for special teams to receive the ball.

The Marantha Warriors lined up to kick, raising his hand in the air, the kicker nodded and started toward the field, "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH BOOM!" the crowd yelled as he ran toward the ball and booted it downfield, the Panther receiver, Hester signaled fair catch and caught the ball and began to run the opposite direction. His O line was in front of him, giving him the blocking he needed. The kick started him on the 19 and he was able to get to the 30 before being tackled.  
"Great run Hester! Great, okay kids go get 'em!" Coach Hodgins smacked their QB on the butt and sent them out on the field.

"Why did the crowd do that?" Tempe asked Angela. "Because Sweetie, it's one of those unknown mysteries of the universe, like, who decided to eat the first thing that came out of a chickens butt, pay attention, your man is up" Temperance decided that Angela didn't know what she was talking about and was giving her one of her patented lines to avoid admitting it. She watched the O line up and she was able to pick him up, he was in the I formation that she knew. She was reaching for her 'dummy' book when she heard, "excuse me, pardon me, I'm sorry, yes-thank you, whoooah, oops sorry about that I hope you have a napkin? Excuse me, excuse me-WHEW! What did I miss?" Max sat down right next to Temperance and looked out on the field. He had a maroon jacket on, a gold hat and was holding a gold and maroon cone shaped horn. "MAX!-what are you doing here?" Temperance asked.

"I told you little girl, watching a HS football game was one of the necessary things to enter the pearly gates, I just want to make sure that I'm covered!" he signaled a runner going up the stairs in the bleachers to pass him down some popcorn. Smiling, he happily starting munching away watching the action on the field. While Temperance had been talking to Max, she missed the play. Noticing they were no longer on the 30, they'd gotten the first down. "What happened?" She asked Angela, "I'm not going to tell you, pay attention, I will say this though…damn! Those shiny maroon pants are fantabulistic! I may have to get me a pair of those, maybe black?" she mused. Determined not to miss a play, she focused on the field. The O was in a huddle. "XY Redwing 77 on two, ready break" the QB said heading into the shotgun formation. He quickly looked to his left and right, then stepped up close to the center and shouted "blackwing blackwing 57 57 right watch him watch him" the line shifted to the right and the wideout dropped back a few feet, "ready hut hut!" dropping into the pocket the QB watched his left WR break free and head up the sideline, dropping back another step and ducking to avoid the missed block, he let the ball go and the WR caught it on the line.

"1st down!" the line judge ruled and the chains and team marched down to the new line of scrimmage. Temperance found that she had understood almost all of that. Max leaned in to ask if she knew what had happened, and she said "Mack realized that there was a blitz coming on that formation, so he called an…something..I forgot, called it and changed the play, so then that guy was able to get free enough to catch it?"

"Excellent! And it's called an 'audible' very nicely done Miss Brennan I love it when my students pay attention!" he congratulated her and turned back to the game. Angela leaned over, raised an eyebrow and then winked. She pointed to the book and smiled. Tempe nodded and smiled back. They all concentrated on the game, quickly the 1st down they had gotten was the only one they would get and their punter had to come out on the field. He shanked it pretty far to the left which gave the other team excellent field position when they came out on the field. Brennan picked out Fischer and Wendell and was interested to see how the two of them played. She knew they were Booth's best friends, but he never mentioned them. It seemed all he wanted to do was talk to her about her life. She was going to ask him questions about his life the next time she talked to him.

The three of them were unaware that there was a camera pointed at them almost continuously…

CHAPTER 29

The other team scored on their possession and went for the 2 point conversion, so were up 8-0 with 7 minutes to play in the first quarter. They really had held the ball for a long time. Coach Hodgins was worried because Zack really had control and seemed to be placing the ball wherever he wanted it. While they were on defense, he made a point to tell Booth that he needed to be on his toes. He knew that Mack, although proficient for a sophomore was not nearly as good as Zack Addy. Luckily for them, Clark Edison had been put on academic probation, so their leading rusher was sidelined.

Calling time out, Mack decided to come over and consult with Hacker about what play to run next. Booth idly looked into the stands, right at his girl. She was staring intently at the field and even from there, he could see that she was calculating the next play and was trying to determine the best course of action. Mack trotted back and called, "Strong side up the gut-silver blast 29 on slow three, ready break" and they got into formation. Seeley lined up on the inside and stepped up to the line. "Ready-14 silver, 29 blast, hut..huthut" and they were off, Booth grabbed the ball and pushed as hard as he could, his tackle was giving him plenty of room, just not fast enough. Brought down from the side, he only picked up 7 yards. He jumped up and ran back to the huddle. "Dammit! Come on-I need some running room, let's go pick up the pace!"

Calling a weak side cutback, Mack lined them up with Booth towards the middle again, he was going to drop back, switch sides and pick the ball up and cross the field. Mack drifted back to the left and handed the ball off, Booth hustled to the right and picked up a cherry hole in the D. He ran for it and broke through, knowing he was being chased by over a 1000 pounds of pissed off, he ran for the end zone. Diving into the corner he rolled and then jumped up, spiked the ball and ran to hi-five his team. The maroon and gold fans went nuts. They were all screaming and jumping up and down. Max and Angela hugged a squished Tempe. She waved her pennant and Angela waved her sign, Max used his cone horn to make a loud "oooogaah" noise. The Panthers decided not to pick up the 2 point conversion, trusting instead they could pick it up later in the game. The ball shot through the uprights and they were ready to kick off again when the 2 minute warning came.

The kicker lined up and this time, Temperance was ready for the "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH BOOM!" she giggled out loud when the ball sailed into the end zone and they brought the ball out to the 20 yard line. "This is so much fun!" she screamed, "I'm going to every game next year, if I have to sneak out!" Angela laughed at her and reached over to give her a one armed hug. I'm glad you're having fun Sweetie!"

The teams switched sides of the field for the next quarter and it went by rather quickly. A couple of penalties, but neither team scored so going into halftime the score was still 8-7 Marantha. When the players began to head off the field, the crowd started to disperse as well, many to the bathrooms, the food vendors or to the smoking section. The bleachers were pretty sparse when Temperance looked up to see an older man heading her way, followed by a sullen Seeley look-a-like. He came up to where they were sitting and said, "hello, my name is Hank Booth. I'm Seeley's grandpa, and this is J"

"Jared!" Angela said coyly and reached out to give him a hug, "hows my favorite Booth Lite?" Jared looked at the girl and felt his entire body flush hot then cold, "uhh, I'm fine Angela-how are you?" he mumbled, "just peachy, now, escort me to the ladies would ya?" she grabbed his arm and giving a little wave dragged the poor kid off.

"Well, when Angela has you in her clutches, there's no telling what will happen" Max chuckled, reaching his hand out, he said, "It's nice to meet you Mr. Booth, my name is Max Keenan, and I'm a friend of Tempe's and your grandson"

"Hank, please" he said shaking Max's hand. Temperance looked at the older man and reached her hand out as well, "Hello, I'm Temperance Brennan, and Seeley has told me a lot about you" she smiled at him and instantly fell in love with him. "Shrimp has told me a bunch about you too young lady, in fact, my grandson is quite smitten with you, I hope that we will be seeing you around the house?" he smiled and sat down on the bleacher in front of them. "I hope so" she said quietly. The three of them quickly starting discussing the game, the field and were really enjoying themselves when Angela and Jared came back. "Thank you Booth Lite-that was very kind of you" she turned to him and kissed him on the cheek. Jared turned bright pink and said, "Come on Pops, we need to get back to our seats" and started to go, "Why don't we just sit here, I'm sure they won't mind?" he turned and raised an eyebrow. "I don't mind, Jared, you can sit here" Angela patted the empty seat next to her and winked. Seeing that Jared was trying to not let his head explode, Temperance actually jumped in and said, "Jared, I saw Tim Sullivan sitting about 4 rows down, maybe you can sit with him and your grandpa can stay here?" it was by far the bravest thing she could ever have suggested. "Yeah, thanks Temperance - Pops? Is it okay?" he asked.

"Sure Cricket-go ahead, I'll just stay here with Max and these lovely ladies" he winked and sat down next to Max. Angela had brought back a soda to share with Temperance, she knew she really didn't care for them, but there wasn't any tea or milkshakes to be had. The girls sat and discussed the cheerleaders and their routine. They were quick to notice that Daisy was always about a half foot behind the other girls and Payton was working the crowd like she was on a stage in Vegas. "Well, it's obvious that she didn't use her brains to get his attention" Angela told her. "Thanks Angela-I'm glad it was my brains that attracted him first" she said, slightly hurt. He had told her she was pretty, maybe she just wasn't as pretty as Payton.

"Well, young lady, I for one am glad that Seeley is no longer with that evil little witch. Never did like that girl, always acted like she was too good for everybody else. You can pour chocolate on a lemon wedge but that don't make it sweet" he finished. They all sat there silently for a second then burst into laughter. "That was by far the funniest thing I think I've ever heard!" Angela said, "I believe I will claim that in the name of me!" she winked at him and reached her fist out to bump his. Max signaled for another bag of popcorn and they watched the cheerleaders leave the field and the players start to come back for the second half.

CHAPTER 30

Marantha had the ball starting the second half and were able to march right down the field and score on their first possession. The score was now 15-7; they'd controlled the ball so well that they'd eaten up a good chunk of time off of the clock as well. While Marantha was getting ready to kick the ball to St. Agnes, Tempe had her eye on the sideline and noticed that the cheerleaders had moved over in front of their section of the bleachers. She warily kept an eye on them while she stood up to yell, "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH BOOOOOM!" when the kicker's foot hit the ball. She sat back down and watched Hester as he ran it back about 6 yards from the kick. Angela leaned over and said, "Okay Baby-here comes the magic man!" Standing up to yell she whistled loud and long and was cheering the O as they ran onto the field. "Come on Temper! Cheer for you man girl!" she grabbed her arm and they two of them started hooting and hollering. Tempe couldn't keep the smile off of her face; she was having so much fun. She never thought she would enjoy something like this so much, but the freedom of expression was extraordinary. She sat back down and watched them line up against the defense. Seeing that they were going to do a passing play, she just watched Seeley. She wanted to see what he did when not directly involved with the play. She saw how solid he was, his pads didn't really need to emphasize his physical presence, if anything they enhanced it. She saw how he stood stock still, his head up high, hands clenched as he waited for the play. She loved how precise every movement he made was. Mack moved out of the pocket and was being pressured on the play, Booth stepped in and tackled one of the linemen moving towards his QB. Just then from the side, there was another hard hit and she gasped and stood up as Booth collapsed under the pile of players that were converging on Mack.

Mack released the ball to the WR waiting down field, and the play was complete. They'd gotten the first down and then some. Temperance didn't see that. She didn't see anything but the massive pile of players being pulled up by the referees. There were whistles blowing and the crowd was silent. Angela grabbed her hand, and Max grabbed her other one. They all stood, along with the rest of the spectators to see who was at the bottom. He was laying there, on his back, his arm above his head. The referee motioned to his sideline to bring the trainer out, Coach Hodgins, Hacker and the trainer trotted on to the field. Marantha had gone to their sideline and along with all the other players had taken a knee on the field.

"Booth-hey buddy, come on, are you there?" Coach Hodgins asked when he got there. The trainer straightened out his legs and brought his arm down. "Hey come on man, let's go" he said as he got the smelling salts out, ready to break the package. Just then Seeley took a deep breath and opened his eyes wide. He saw nothing but the grill on his helmet and the concern in his coach's faces. He started to sit up and Hacker put his hand on his chest, "Hold on Seeley, do you know where you are?" he asked him, concern etched in his face.

"Yes AD Hacker, I know where I am" he replied with a wink. "Think I've bought us enough time?" he asked the three men kneeling over him. "Very funny Booth, you had us all freaked out!" Coach Hodgins grinned at him, and offered his hand, "Well, next time I get my lights knocked out, I'll try not to worry you so much" he said, shakily standing. He stood for a minute and let the blood flow back into his legs, he took a step and faltered somewhat. "I think I better anchor you big guy", Hodgins said getting on one side of him he walked with his arm around his waist as they walked back to their side line. When they got there, Booth and the trainer went over to the bench behind the line and the trainer checked him out. He followed the pen light with his eyes and felt all the pinches and pokes in his legs and arms. He was told to touch his toes and he was able to do that without falling over. The trainer walked over to Hacker and said, "Seems to be okay, had his bell rung, but looks good" Hacker was relieved. This game was important to the school, but Seeley was also a good kid and he hated to see anyone get hurt.

Coach Hodgins told Seeley he would need to sit out for a play or so, but then he could go back in, so he was regulated to the bench for a couple of minutes. He stood and turned to try to catch her eye in the stands and was relieved to see that she was still there. He felt bad that she had to see him get walked off the field, but hoped that she could see he was okay. She was looking right at him and he smiled at her and waved a bit, giving her the 'ok' sign, she touched her heart with her hand and signed back, 'ok'. Putting his helmet on, he walked back to the coach and was ready to go in on the next play.

The fourth quarter started off slowly, neither team could do much with the ball. Zack was completing passes, but they weren't able to convert. Mack and Booth and Hester had been talking and told Hodgins that they wanted to try the run, Mack said he thought they would be able to pick up more yardage and get better field position for a short pass into the end zone. Hodgins realized that he needed to trust his players, so told them to call the ball and let them have the reins.

When they got to the huddle, there was 9 minutes left on the clock and they were down, 15-7. Mack said "weak side cutback, left 1-2 on one on one and break"clapping their hands to end the huddle they lined up, he stepped into the center and called "Red 17 Red 17 left HUT!" The center handed him the ball and he reached behind him where the running back on the other side picked it up, he rushed around the left side and was able to pick up 6 yards. Standing now on the 26 yard line, they had 3 tries to get into the end zone. Mack decided to try a reverse and see how close they could get, so signaling Seeley on the hike, he handed off to Seeley and began to run, everyone started watching him and then saw that Seeley had the ball and was looking to throw it. Seeing that he was about to be tackled, and his left side had missed the block, Seeley ducked a shoulder and cut to the right, he looked over the mass of bodies, and saw that Mack was about 3 yards ahead of his nearest defender so let it go. As he crashed to the field, he looked to see if Mack caught it. He did and the crowd stood as one and screamed for him to run! Mack took off and was about 17 yards from the end zone when he was tackled from behind. This time when they lined up, they tried a run up the middle and were stymied with only 2 yards. They needed to pick up 9 yards on this next drive as time was running out. Mack faded back and dumped a short little pass over the line to the tight end and picked up 3 yards. Trying the same play again, they were able to get another 5 yards. This was their last chance to pick up the necessary 1yard for the first down, or they were going to have to kick a field goal. There was only 4 minutes left on the clock, so that wouldn't give them enough time to do an onside kick, recover and march back down the field. It was now or never.

Calling a running play, Mack handed the ball to Seeley who pounded towards the end zone, cutting to his left he was able to spin out of a tackle, just to bounce into another one, he pulled the defender with him, and his determination to score was providing the necessary adrenaline to pull an extra 235 pounds. Driving with his legs Booth stretched out his full length to put the ball over the goal line. The whistle blew and he jumped up to celebrate the touchdown, when another whistle blew and there was a flash of yellow in the air.

Everyone in the stands groaned in frustration as they saw the offensive holding sign the referee was giving. "What does that mean?" Temperance asked Max, "It means, that they lose the touchdown and are penalized 10 yards, so now, their 4th and 14, they have to make up the extra 10 yards they were penalized, plus the 4 yards they were short from the first down." He told her. "It's going to be tough, they have less than a minute left to get the 14 yards and line up for the extra point, which they are going to have to convert, or they'll lose by one point"

Wondering why anyone would want to play such a confusing sport and wishing she could do something; she had her eyes glued to the field. Angela grabbed her hand and said, "Its okay kiddo, we've got this, I can feel it!" Nodding her agreement, the girls watched the team line up for the last push. Seeley ran a route behind Mack where he was handed the ball he ran halfway to the right before reversing and running up the middle. The D expected him to do a full reverse to the left, so over corrected and he was able to squeak in the corner of the end zone. This time, there was no holding and the touchdown was scored! The crowd was hushed, everyone was waiting to see what the next play was going to be, and Mack got the ball and spiked it causing a time out. He trotted over to Hodgins who told him to try a dump pass again. Mack went back to the huddle and said, "Liberty on 2-ready break!" the boys lined up and Mack called the play, once he said, HUT! The entire O line shifted to the left, on the 2nd HUT they shifted again and that drew the defense in that direction. Mack set the ball down on the ground and put his head down, charging into the middle of the scrum. Seeley came in right behind Mack and picked the ball up and ran it to the right where it was clear sailing. The buzzer sounded and they had scored the 2 point conversion!

The crowd erupted in ebullient cheering, they were throwing cups and programs and pretty much everything into the air! Screaming and jumping up and down, Angela and Temperance were hugging and laughing! They'd done it! They were going to the SC game! Temperance was so happy for Booth, she had tears in her eyes and couldn't stop grinning. Max and Pops shook hands and patted each other on the shoulder and were hi-fiving all of the spectators next to them. As the team was celebrating on the field, Seeley was handed the ball by the ref. He was being pounded on by the other players and everyone was celebrating, after the coaches met in the middle to shake hands, they too joined in the teams celebration.

Seeley, however had other ideas, making his way from the rest of the team, he hustled to the sideline and vaulted the concrete divider. He ran over to the bleachers and began to climb up to the landing where the stairs started. Max and Hank realized what he was doing before Tempe did and said, "He's coming for you Sweetheart, head on down there" she turned to Angela who said, "Go Sweetie, go see your man!"

The crowd half lifted and half glided her down to him, when it was obvious he couldn't get up the barrier, she leaned over the railing and he reached up and pulled her down into his arms. Spinning her around, he held her tight. She was holding on to his shoulders and laughing and telling him how well he played. He set her down and took off his helmet. He leaned in for a kiss and then picked her up and hugged her again. She leaned back and he spun her around. "We did it baby! We did it!" he laughed up at her, and she leaned down and grabbed his face in her hands, "You did it Seeley!" she kissed him softly at first, well aware of the crowd cheering them on. "Here-this is for you, he handed her the game football"

"For me?" She squeaked, "Don't you want to keep it?"

"Nope-it's for you babe, as is this" setting her down, he stripped off his jersey and handed it to her, right before he kissed her on the cheek. "I've got to go back on the field, we have to get the trophy for the division, but I'll be right back, will you be here?" she looked up into the stands where they were rapidly emptying as the crowd headed to the field, and Angela was pointing to her watch. "Seeley-I wish I could, but I have to go, I'm sorry" she looked down, mad that she couldn't enjoy the rest of his moment.

Seeley tipped her chin up and said. "Don't be sorry Tempe, I'm so glad you came and I'll call you tonight, okay?"

"Okay" she said softly as he leaned in to kiss her again.

He swatted her on the butt and headed back to the field as Angela and Max made their way down the bleacher with Hank and Jared. "Did you have fun Temperance?" Hank asked her? "Yes Sir, I did, I had a wonderful time"

"Call me Pops, dear, and I'm glad to hear it, it's too bad you have to go, but would you like to come to dinner tomorrow night?" he asked.

Temperance shook her head and said sadly, "I wish that I could, but my parents won't let me, they don't even know I was here, in fact, I have to go" seeing the sadness in her eyes, he just leaned over and hugged her, "that's okay, maybe next time"

Angela, Max and Temperance made their way to the parking lot and they got in line to get out. Temperance looked at the clock and it was 9:45, they had 15 minutes to get across town to the museum. She knew that Angela secretly harbored a desire to drive NASCAR so wasn't too worried, she was so pumped up with energy that she felt like she could run the entire trip and still have time to spare.

As they left the parking lot, they never noticed the camera was being turned off…

Chapter 31 PART A

On the drive to the museum, Angela and Temperance were high on the victory of the game. They chattered about the plays, the people in the stands, how great Seeley was, him being hit and re-lived every moment. "What are you going to do with your football?" Angela looked over and asked her.

"I think I'm going to take it home" Tempe said, "there is no reason that I can't have it, it didn't come from one of those 'dirty other homes' like the rest of the things I wasn't allowed to bring, and they didn't have to spend their 'hard earned money on foolishness' in order for me to have it. I'm going to put it on my bed in fact" she finished her voice strong and determined.

Angela was silent, inside she was screaming with joy that Temperance was finally starting to take a stand against the Sweets and was coming out of her shell. She knew a little bit about how she ended up in the foster system, and wanted nothing more than for her to see what the world had to offer wasn't as scary as she had made it out to be. "I think that is a great idea, what about Studly's jersey?" she smiled and winked.

"I'm going to keep that too" she said, "I just may not display it, though" she wasn't sure of the reaction she would get. They had raised their eyebrows at the hoody, but said nothing, this was different. This had his name on it. She would just make sure that it was well hidden and take it out at night.

"Um..Angela, can I ask you a question?" she said shyly.

Angela looked over and saw she was looking out the window and twisting her hands nervously in the jersey, "what is is Sweetie?"

"Is it weird that it hurts when I think of him?" spoken so quietly Angela had to mute the stereo just to be sure she heard her, "because it does, it hurts"

"That's love Sweetie. It's the most painful thing you will ever experience, but it's also the most wonderful thing too. You'll have highs and lows all day long and sometimes at the same time, but when you can laugh just thinking about something they said, or smile when you picture them in your head, or your heart feels crushed when they're gone, that's love" she reached over and took her hand, squeezing it softly she said, "it's okay to love again Temper-give yourself permission."

Tempe looked over at her with a slight sheen of tears in her eyes, "What if I do give myself permission and it doesn't work out?"

"Then you hold your head up high, take a deep breath and wade back into the fray. It's not always going to be rainbows and roses, but the times that it is outweigh the times that it isn't. Talk to him, ask him what he thinks, it's okay to love him Temperance, it really is."

Smiling at her friend, she squeezed her hand back. They pulled into the parking lot and she ducked down, not sure if the Sweets would look at the truck, she didn't want to take any chances. She and Angela got out of the truck and headed inside; she changed into a pair of jeans and wiped off her face. Angela grabbed her bag and the two of them walked out the front door. Buried in her own bag was the football, program and the jersey. Angela hugged her at the bottom of the stairs, and told her to have fun at the lecture on Saturday.

She got into their car at 10:10 and immediately Lance launched into a discussion about responsibility and how it was just plain rude to not be waiting outside when they pulled up. She apologized and told them that there had been snacks after the training class and they had stood around and chatted for a couple of minutes. She agreed that it had been irresponsible of her. Trying hard not to smile, all she could think of was whiskey colored eyes and being spun around like a little girl in his strong arms. She couldn't wait to text him tonight, talking would be impossible, but she hoped he would at least contact her once.

She headed upstairs when she got home and put her treasures away. The football she left out on her bed while she went to the bathroom to get ready for bed, and upon returning she took it and set it on the floor. The jersey she hung up inside her robe in her closet and she decided to wear the same sweats for pajamas. Looking through the program, she didn't know that each senior on the team had their own profile page. She enjoyed reading about Seeley. He'd talked about his love of sports, his career goals and how much he loved being a part of the team. The coaches were all very complimentary towards him as well. It was funny she thought, he'd mentioned he wanted to be an architect when he graduated from college, yet he'd never told her that. He told her he wanted to go into the Army.

Temperance read and re-read each page of the program and began to get drowsy, she looked at her phone, kept in her pillowslip and there was nothing. Oh well, she yawned, he must be celebrating, it's a big night. I'll talk to him tomorrow. She turned off the flashlight and got under her covers. Although faint, his cologne was still on the hoody and she buried her nose in the scent. Her last conscious thought was that she would ask him what he wore and buy a small bottle herself. She laughed slightly and drifted off to sleep and dream of the best night of her life.

CHAPTER 31 PART B

Booth and the rest of the team hooped and hollered all the way into the locker room. Chanting and congratulating each other they were really living it up when Coach Hodgins stood on the bench in front of the first row of lockers. "Okay Gentlemen, okay, bring it down to ruckus please" he waved his hands dow and said, "First off, CONGRATULATIONS!" the boys erupted in cheers again and then quieted down, "secondly, that was a great game! You boys really stepped up and pulled it out. This week, we'll review the tapes, work on what little bit needs work and next Friday night when we head to McCandless for the SC game we'll be prepared!" he ended with a shout and his hands raised, letting the boys cat call and whoop it up, he continued, "I know there is going to be some partying tonight, Catholic school or not, I'm not stupid, please be careful, think of each other, your families and your own safety first, okay gentlemen?"

They all shouted agreement and then drifted off to get out of their uniforms, shower and plan their celebratory party.

"Hey Booth, are you going to Macks? His dad said we can have the guest house and he'll take car keys, we can crash all night! All of us are going, well most of the O line and some of the D, the rest are heading to Hesters', which one you going to?" Fischer asked him coming out of the shower, rubbing a towel over his wet hair, another tied around his waist.  
"Nah, I'm gonna head home, relax, I got some things to do tomorrow" he said, hanging up his pads and getting his shower kit ready.

"COME ON MAN, I know you've been dating that 2nd grader for a couple of weeks now, but we haven't seen you hardly at all, the girls are all going to Macks, come on, hang out with us for a little while. We won the division game for Christ sake man. You act like your married or something!" Fischer said in digust, "hell, invite her to come too, just come out and hang with us man."

"She can't come" he said quietly, "and I don't appreciate you talking about her like that. She's younger than me, but she's more mature than any of you morons" he grabbed his kit and headed into the shower.

Wendell turned to Fischer and said, "Man, we're supposed to get him to go, not piss him off."

Fischer pulled his shirt over his head and said, "I don't know why we are doing this anyway, its Payton's show. I can't stand that little b!tch anyway, so I'm not sure why I'm risking my friendship. Why doesn't she just hook up with someone else and leave him alone"

"We told the girls we would help as long as no one got hurt-we're not doing anything wrong, Payton just wants a little revenge. Once she's satisfied, we'll go back to the way it was, but you know as well as I do, if we don't help you and I can kiss the girls goodbye. Payton's got them by the shorts and they'll do whatever she says. We get him to the party, we get him relaxed, she takes her pictures, we get laid, we go home, easy plan" he hissed as Booth was coming back from the shower.

"That was quick" he remarked, tying his shoe.

"Stupid cheap ass school is out of hot water" he said bitterly. "I'll just shower at home"

Wendell turned to give Fischer a look behind Booth's back, "Come on" he mouthed to him.

"Dude-come to the party, just for a few minutes. It would mean a lot to the guys on the team, we even got Hester and them to come to just one party. There's a lot of younger guys that look up to us, just come for like, an hour, than you can go, k?" he took Seeley's arm and turned him around, "come on man, I don't want to sound like your sister, but we miss you man."

Wendell stood up and came over and gave him a hug from behind, he rubbed his head and put his other hand on his stomach and said, "yes, we missss you Booth"

"Get off of me you nutjob" he laughed and pushed him away, "Okay, one hour-but that's it"

Hi-fiving each other they said "yeah!" in unison and continued to get dressed.

Meanwhile…

"So what did you get?" She asked.

"I got them walking in, I got the old guy and I got them sitting there for the whole game, I got the disgusting PDA at the end, the football and the jersey handover, more spit swapping. I got it all, now where's my money?" the boy said holding out his hand.

"Not so fast, I want 3 copies of it, and I want stills. The kissing, the three of them in the stands, all of them time/date stamped right?" she said bring her hand back to her side.

"That'll cost you extra" he said "another $100 easy"

"I don't care just make it happen, here's a $100 now and the rest when you have it copied-oh, and when you do whatever you do, make sure you get close-ups on all the spit swapping, okay? Plus, you're still on him the rest of the week right?" she said handing him the cash.

"You got it sister" taking the money he shook his head as he walked away, he didn't care what he filmed, but it seemed pretty sick to want to take this many photos and film of your ex-boyfriend. Deciding he didn't care, he got paid either way, he drifted off to join the rest of the stoners waiting for rides by the trees.

"Did you get them?" Caroline asked when she came back to the girls locker room.

"Yeah-he's going to make 3 copies and then stills from the video, plus he's on tap to follow him the rest of the week"

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Daisy asked, suddenly uneasy at the way this once harmless prank was playing out.

"Are you wanting out now?" Payton asked, hand on her hip as she and Caroline both turned to stare at her. "No, I don't want out Payton, I was just asking" she said deciding to keep her mouth closed.

The girls looked at her a little longer and then started to get ready for the party.

When Daisy left to go to the showers, Payton said, "Do you have the stuff Caroline?"

"Yeah-I got it from my brother, he said one would be enough to do the trick, any more and he'd pass out-I'll get it in his drink, you get his phone. Then we'll go from there, Wendell just texted and said that they convinced him to go, so this is it"

Payton grabbed her things to take to the shower and said, "This is it, I'm not going to let that girl get what I've worked so hard to keep…"

CHAPTER 31 PART C

All of them headed to the party in separate cars, Booth's excuse was that he was leaving sooner and he didn't want to have to deal with getting them all home. They agreed that would be best, and the little caravan struck out for the hills where Mack's family home was. It was set back from the street and surrounded by trees, perfect for a teenage party. The guest house, 3 bedrooms and 3 baths, was set about 100 yards from the main house; the pool was between the two. When they all got there, Macks' dad gathered up keys and phone numbers as well as names of people there. Warning them that he would not hesitate to call parents to come get the drunken little angels and that they had all better behave. Assuring the imposing ex NFL lineman the kids all agreed.

Booth grabbed a Pepsi from the fridge and because Pops had told him a story about mice and stacked cases once when he was a kid, he grabbed a cup of ice too. Settling into a recliner he sat against the wall to watch the rest of his teammates celebrate. He'd played with some of these kids since they were in pee-wees and optimist leagues, so over 10 years. It was weird to think, one more game and they were done. Knowing some of them had been looking at scholarships; he poured his soda and silently saluted them as he watched the room grow crowded. When Payton and the girls go there with Wendell and Fischer, he decided to try to be the bigger man and let things go. She would either accept them or move on, or she wouldn't, he couldn't do it for her.

Payton knew exactly where he was the moment she walked in. She looked over at him and for the first time in a long time, really looked at him. He was silent and observant, his eyes constantly moving around the room. He was wearing a navy blue Army T-shirt that hugged every muscle, dark indigo jeans and black boots. His letter jacket was open and only appeared to increase the size of his chest and breadth of his shoulders. His hair was still slightly damp and there were the barest smudges of beard stubble. She took a deep breath and wondered why it had all gone the way it did. She never realized just how important he was to her until that moment.

Booth could feel her eyes on him and he deliberately ignored her for a few minutes, then he slowly dragged his eyes to meet hers, and looked right through her. He felt and saw her flinch at the same time that she inhaled when he turned his full gaze on her. That look said it all she thought, he'll never be yours again Payton. She smiled somewhat sadly and blinked back the sudden sting of tears. Turning away, she took a deep breath. She pushed her hair back behind her ears, smoothed down the front of her shirt and went to find Caroline. She knew that what they were doing was wrong; she also knew that he had to pay for humiliating her. At that exact moment she could have been the one to walk away and let it go, but Payton let that opportunity slip through her fingers.

Finding Caroline, she and Daisy put their heads together and figured out how it was all going to go down. They drifted over to where their guys were and started chatting. Mack had his back turned and was messing with the sound system. Payton came up behind him and put her arm around his slim hips and ducked under his arm until she was looking up at him. He stepped back in surprise and she smiled up at him, "hey Mack, great game today! You looked really good out there…" she slowly moistened her lips and leaned into him. Mack said, "Thanks Payton-um…I don't think this is a good idea, uhhh Booth is right there and you and he….well,"

She stopped him speaking when she pulled his head down to hers and said, "Booth and I broke up weeks ago, he has a new girlfriend. I like you, I'd like to get to know you better, so what do you say, wanna put on your big boy pants and see what happens?"

Mack grabbed her hips with both of his hands and leaned in to kiss her. At the same time, he cranked up the music and the kids all moved to the living room to really start dancing. Some couples were still scattered here and there on couches and chairs, but the majority of them were up and moving around.

Booth stayed seated, he was watching everyone and wishing that his girl was here. Wendell and Fischer came over to where he was and started talking to him. "Dude-you look like you're at a wake not a party, come on, grab a girl, dance a little. You're just dancing not doing anything else, so it would be ok'

"Guys-I don't want to dance with one of the cheerleaders. Do one of you want to dance with me? I'll do that!" he laughed taking a drink of his straight Pepsi, "I told you, I've got somewhere to be tomorrow, so I'm only here for a few minutes longer anyway, any other time, I'd be right there with you guys"

"I think he's whipped" Fischer stage whispered to Wendell, his hand slightly covering his mouth. Wendell laughed back, "Yeah-whipped! Didn't see that coming!" they both laughed out loud and Booth stood up, setting his drink down on a small side table.

"So-which one wants his $$ kicked first?" he asked, taking off his jacket and throwing it down. Booth was surprisingly calm, although filled with fury that his friends would talk about her like that. He'd known these guys for years and it hurt that they weren't on his side. "Not me man!" Wendell put up his hands and backed away, "we were just teasing you, remember joking around? You used to be able to take it, the past couple of weeks you act like everything we do or say is nowhere near as important as the romance of the century. What happened dude?"

"Yeah Booth-quit acting like such a punk and get a sense of humor. You've never acted like this before. It's hard to be your friend when we can't even talk to you without you threatening to kick our butts all the damn time" Fischer stood his ground, looking his friend dead in the eye.

Booth unclenched his hands and stepped back a little. The room had gotten slightly quieter as people stopped dancing to watch what was going on over in their corner of the room. Seeing that no punches seemed to be coming either way, they started back to dancing and chatting.

"Guys-it's difficult for us to be together. I like this girl and I want you guys to like her too, but the way that we've all treated her in the past, makes it hard for her to trust, so I have to get her to trust me first before I can even think of introducing her to my friends-"

"That's crap man, we're not a bunch of A-holes that will just make attack her, I think both of us can be civil to someone-I mean hell, we've all put up with Payton for years. She's a freaking barracuda and you stayed with her for 4 years-so don't give us that she's shy crap; you just don't want her around us. Fine, at least be a man and say that" Fischer interrupted.

"Okay man, okay-you win. I didn't know how to do this. Okay? Let me talk to her and go from there, this is all new to me too" he said, reaching back to grab his jacket. Wendell in the meantime had intercepted Caroline and was trying to keep her from her objective. He knew what they were going to do and he'd had enough…

CHAPTER 32

Wendell grabbed Caroline's arm and hissed, "Knock it off C, Payton needs to deal with her own stuff, you're not a part of this"

She shook him off and said, "She's my best friend and he's a jerk- he needs to be taught a lesson, besides, yesterday when you had your hand down my pants you weren't this self-righteous, what's changed, now you don't want to help? Maybe I should tell him what all you've done so far, the note in the locker? Grow a set Wendell, let it go and we all walk away."

Caroline glared up at him and he wondered whether or not it was worth telling Booth right now. Looking over, he could see him and Fischer heading to the pool table. Maybe he wouldn't come back for his drink if they could keep him playing pool. Wendell turned around and Caroline was no longer there. The drink looked untouched, but he wasn't sure, so Wendell grabbed it and dumped it out.

Payton disentangled herself from Mack and said she'd be back in a minute when Caroline caught her eye. "Hey, here's his phone-Wendell is out, he's gone soft. I bet Fischer backs off too, so it's up to us." She told her handing her Booth's phone.

Caroline scrolled through the numbers and copied Temperance's into her own phone. Then she looked through the messages, there were still some from her on there, as well as some from 'Angel', that must be that rock star girl she thought, she got to two from the 'Bone Lady'. Bingo, she whispered, now knowing her nickname she'd be better able to distract him. "Daisy is in the kitchen, get her to get him a soda-we'll get someone else to bring it to him, hopefully Wendell and Fisch won't see it"

Caroline went into the kitchen to get the soda from Daisy, and Payton told Mack they should all toast their victory with shots, she told him she'd bring a bunch out. Mack agreed and started gathering everybody up. Daisy, Caroline, Payton and a jr on the squad brought out a bunch of cups, shot glasses and Dixie cups and started pouring the Petron. "Hey-lets all shot for the game!" Mack yelled as everyone picked up a shot, Booth walked to where is soda was and the jr handed him his soda and said, "here you go Booth" he held it up and they all said, "Panthers!" and tipped the drinks back. "Whew!" "Another!" "More" various shouts went up, so the girls poured out the rest of the bottle and they all shouted, "State Champs!" then the drinks were gone. People started drifting back to their corners, the dancing or the pool table.

Fischer and Booth had a pretty good battle going. They'd each won a game and were working on best 2 of 3 when Booth started to feel a little light headed. He put his hand down on the table and shook his head. Looking around, the room seemed to be moving independently of the people, the walls were starting to take on a liquid look. The colors in the room and the people began to look like a bad Technicolor enhanced movie. He licked his lips and realized his mouth was pretty dry. "Jus a minute" he slurred to Fischer, looking for his soda. Not seeing it, he went into the kitchen and got a glass of water. The whole time he felt like he was falling through the looking glass. Must have hit my head a little harder than I thought tonight he thought to himself. He stood over the sink f or a minute more and started to feel a little better. Still light headed, his mouth wasn't as dry and the noise had reduced to a dull murmur of sound. He turned to go back to the game and slight giggle escaped, this isn't that bad, he could handle this, and if this is what a concussion felt like it was pretty cool actually. He was feeling pretty mellow and calm. Walking back to the game, he grabbed the stick and got ready for his shot.

"What happened man? Where'd you go?" Fischer asked. "I needed a drink of watah" he said, "my mouf was dry" he was trying hard to get the words to come out clearly, "my shot right?"

"Yeah Seel-it's your shot" he looked at Wendell and mouthed, "What?"

Wendell came over and whispered into his ear, "I dumped it out man, I've been watching all three of them, and they didn't put anything into that glass, that girl, Roxie over there, she brought him the glass and poured the soda right here, I watched her"

"Well, just watch him-I'll be back" Fischer said handing him his stick.

Fischer went over to where Payton and Mack were still trying to remove each other's tonsils with their tongues and tapped her on the shoulder, "Payton get up"

"Hey man, go get Daisy, Payton's busy" Mack giggled, close to drunk from the booze and high on the head cheerleader. "Settle down Mack, just a second" she said, getting out of his lap.

"What?" she glared at Fischer, "What do you want?"

"Which one of you put something in his drink Payton?" he asked holding onto her upper arm.

"Not me-you guys wussed out so we tossed the plan, Caroline and Daisy have been dancing and I've been with Mack, you guys have him surrounded, so maybe it was you?" she said crossing her arms over her chest and shaking his hand off.

"It wasn't us, and supposedly it wasn't you, so who did it?" Fischer leaned in close and brought her against his chest, "quit messing around Payton, this isn't funny anymore"

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME" she told him forcefully.

"Hey guys, how about a football picture?" The junior from earlier came up with a camera, "just the seniors? It'll be great to have after tonights game?" she was picking up on some ugly vibes and was trying to break up the evitable. "Yeah-a picture sounds great" Wendell came up w/Daisy and Caroline, taking Fischers arm and leading him aside, "Get Booth, we'll pose and then I'll take him home, he's over in the corner singing to himself-we'll figure out who did what later"

Fischer went over to his buddy and told him to grab his jacket, they were gonna take a picture then Wendell was going to take him home. Booth was gone, he had a great big smile on his face, vacant expression in his eyes and he really was singing to himself. "Why are we leaving so soon? I want to dance, and we could play more pool!" he said, trying to disentangle himself from his own jackets arms.

"Nah, this party is winding down, most of the people are leaving too, so come on Big Man lets get our picture taken" he helped him put his jacket on and led him over to where the rest of the senior players and cheerleaders were gathering, he sat him in the chair in the middle of the picture, because he didn't think that he'd be able to stand.

"Okay,everyone get close, closer…come on Payton, you're not even in the frame-here, sit here and put your arm around him, Caroline sit on the arm of the chair. It's like a Booth sandwich" the junior directed everyone into the picture. Payton slid down into Booths lap and he looked up and smiled, "Hey Pay," he giggled, "that rhymes, where you been?" he put his arm around her and then leaned into Caroline and said, "woo hoo, two pretty girls." Fischer thumped him on the head and told him to knock it off.

When they all were situated, the junior started snapping pictures, telling them to say "PANTHERS" and "SENIORS!", and no one noticed Daisy taking photo's with a cell phone camera right behind her…

CHAPTER 33

Wendell and Fischer got Booth out to his car, although it was difficult. He wanted to go back inside and finish the game of pool. They finally told him if he didn't go home now, he would be late for his appointment on Saturday. Booth agreed to leave and Wendell drove him home. He called Jared and told him to meet him outside. When they got to Booth's house, Jared was standing outside and his eyes were wide when he saw his big brother stumble out of the car.

"What did he do?" he asked Wendell grabbing Booth's other arm and trying to get under him to help him to walk.

"Someone spiked his drink-so we decided before he ended up on the internet, we'd bring him home, is Pops up?" Wendell told Jared, navigating the porch steps.

"No, he's out, can you help me get him up the stairs? He's too heavy for me" Jared said, still surprised that lily pure Seeley was drunk.

"Yeah-let's get him to bed, he has something going on tomorrow, do you know what time he has to be there?" Wendell asked Jared, "Nah- I don't know of anything, there's nothing on the calendar either"

"Oh well, hopefully it's not too important, maybe let him sleep it off, I guess" he said.

The boys got him up the stairs with a lot of pulling and shoving, Booth was pretty much asleep on his feet. Jared absolutely refused to get his brother out of his clothes and Wendell laughed and said, "I like the guy, but not that much!" they put a garbage can by his bed and draped his comforter over him. Heading back downstairs, Wendell handed Jared the keys to Booth's car and said, "Call me in the morning kid, let me know he's okay"

"How are you getting home?" Jared asked, "Fischer will be here in a minute, he had to take Hester home, in fact there he is now" Wendell said standing on the porch and watching the truck pull up, "See you later kid"

Jared went inside and checked on his big brother. He'd never seen him like this, and he felt a little defensive of him. As much as he knew he annoyed his brother, he'd always looked up to him and tried to emulate him as best he could. He hoped whoever did this to him really got it. Turning off the hall light, Jared turned to go to his room when he heard his brother groan, he went back in and said quietly, "Seel- are you okay?"

"Jare? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I live here Seeley, you're at home, Bray brought you home a few minutes ago" he told him coming into the room a little more, "Do you need anything?" he asked.

"Nah, just um…where is it?" Booth rolled over and reached into his pockets, finding it he said, "Plug this in would you?" he handed his phone to Jared and pulled the blanket back up. Plugging in the phone Jared turned to leave, "Thanks Cricket, I owe you one" Seeley mumbled as he lapsed back into sleep. Jared's heart turned a little at the nickname, his Pops had been calling him that for years and it was always embarrassing, but for some reason hearing his brother say it made him feel different. "G'night" he whispered as he left.

Temperance woke up with her alarm at 7:30, she checked her phone and was a little disappointed not to see any messages from Booth, but she figured that he must have been out with his teammates and was pre-occupied. Although very far removed from the normal teenage party scene, she could guess what had gone on, and hoped that he was safe. She took her shower and got ready to go to the lecture. She put on a denim skirt, that like her school uniform was a little shorter than she liked, but it was her nicest skirt and she felt that it was better than baggy jeans. She wore a white t-shirt and Seeley's jersey, along with white tights and her loafers. She pulled her hair up and then decided that she would rather leave it down, she wore a maroon headband to push her bangs off of her face. Grabbing her jean jacket, she headed downstairs for a bite of breakfast before getting on the bus to the University of Pittsburgh.

"What time is this lecture over?" Rebecca asked as her initial greeting when Tempe came downstairs, "It's over at 4:30" she replied.

"We'll expect you home no later than 6pm, is that clear?" she asked.

"Yes Ma'am, 6pm" Tempe drank her juice and rinsed the glass putting it into the dishwasher, she checked to see if she had her buss pass and some lunch money and then walked to the door. "Temperance" Rebecca's voice stopped her.

"Yes?" she asked hesitantly and turned towards her.

"Have a good time" she told her. Completely stunned Temperance just stared, her mouth open and her eyes wide. "Thank you" she stammered as she turned to leave. Wondering what was going on, she headed down to the bus stop. During the ride to the University, Temperance replayed that moment over in her mind, she was afraid to contemplate what meaning she could possibly get from it. Hoping that she wasn't being set up by her foster mom, she blocked it from her mind when she got close to the lecture hall. Going inside, she was surprised to see Max standing inside the atrium.  
"Temperance!" he called upon seeing her, "Over here young lady!"

She went to him and asked, "Max, what are you doing here?"

"I came for the lecture, and for the company" he offered her his arm, "shall we find a seat m'lady?" smiling at him she took his arm and they entered the auditorium. They found seats down near the center and front. Temperance took it all in and was really in awe. She had never attended anything so upscale and scholarly. Mentally giggling, she thought this was what other people must feel attending rock concerts or something.

Max was pointing out scientists and other scholars to the star struck girl when a young man sat down next to her. She had removed her jean jacket and he said, "Ahh…a St. Agnes fan, huh?" turning towards him she said, "Yes, my boyfriend and I attend St. Agnes"

"Seeley Booth is your boyfriend? He's switched from the prom queen to the smart girls, interesting, I always thought he was destined for greater things." He smiled at her to try and put her at ease, he'd noticed that her face was slightly flushed. "I'm sorry, my name is Zack Addy, and you are?"

"Temperance Brennan" she responded, "Zack Addy, the Marantha quarterback?"

"That would be me, it's nice to meet you Temperance Brennan" he winked and leaned back into his seat. Tempe didn't know what to say, looking at Max who was just as bewildered as she was, she turned to Zack and said, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to listen to Dr. Nigel-Murray and Dr. Viziri speak, isn't that why you are here?" his voice was light and teasing. She looked at him and saw that he was really quite handsome. Untidy light brown hair, big eyes, although he still had a baby face she could see where he would mature very nicely.

"Yes, that's why we're here too" she indicated Max, "I was just surprised to see a football player here, I mean, not that I was trying to be mean, I'm sorry" she flushed again and looked down.

"Don't be sorry, I'm used to the dumb jock syndrome. I'm sure there are a lot more dumb jocks than smart ones, speaking of which, will Booth be joining us?" he asked.

"No, I'm sure he's got other things to do today, he said something about hockey practice, although since they won, I'm not sure." She wasn't really sure she wanted Zack to know anything about Booth and her right now, hell she didn't know anything herself.

"Ah, well then you and I shall enjoy the lecture" he said at which time Max leaned over and said, "Hi, I'm Dr. Max Keenan, this young lady's escort, Mr. Addy is it?"

"Hello Sir, yes, Zack Addy nice to meet you"

"You threw a hell of a game last night kid, great game to watch, heard from any schools?"

"Thank you Sir, it was a great game, I'm sorry we lost though and yes, I've heard from a couple, I'll not be using an athletic scholarship though, I've got a 4.1 and a full ride to U of Pitt, and a letter of intent from Northwestern. We'll see how the rest of the year goes though; I'm not sure whether I'll be studying Anthropology or Structural Engineering. Both subjects are fascinating." He leaned around Temperance to talk to Max. All three of them began discussing schools and academic goals, until the lights dimmed and the dean stepped to the microphone. Introducing the two guest speakers, he turned the microphone over to Dr. Viziri and Tempe became enthralled with the Indian Anthropologist.

CHAPTER 34

Booth woke up to all the bells of St. Agnes and St. Mary's ringing in his head. He groaned and rolled over, effectively trapping himself in the comforter. Lying there seemed a lot easier than fighting to sit up, so he laid there and blinked, trying to get the room to stay in one place. Once he was sure he wasn't going to hurl, he fought his way out of the comforter and saw that he was still fully dressed, except for one shoe. He sat on the edge of his bed and put his head in his hands. What the hell did I get into last night, he wondered. He decided that a shower might make him feel better. He looked over at the clock and saw that it was 11:30. DAMMIT, he swore, he needed to be somewhere no later than 9am. Shucking his clothes and remaining shoe, he jumped in the shower and turned the water as hot as he could stand it, 10 minutes later, he was dancing around his room naked and trying to find his boxers, socks without holes in them and his other shoe. Finally dressed, he grabbed a baseball cap and his jacket and headed downstairs. His shoe was at the bottom of the stairs, so he sat down and put it on. His headache was now down to a dull roar, he figured a couple of aspirin and he'd be home free.

Going into the kitchen he saw a note on the counter that said, "Shrimp-please empty the dishwasher and move some kindling in by the fireplace, there are some logs that need split as well. Jared and I are in town and will be home later. Love Pops."

Groaning at the time that those things would take, Booth emptied the dishwasher in record time. He went outside and stacked kindling by the fireplace, on the note he wrote, "Pops-will split the wood first thing Sun AM, had to go to U of P Love S"

He grabbed a granola bar and a soda and headed off to the University. Hoping that he would be able to even get in. He'd never been to anything like this before, and didn't know if it was like a concert where no ticket, no entrance. Although, the flyer didn't mention anything about needing a ticket, he'd brought some extra cash just in case. Once he arrived and found parking, he hurried to the main auditorium.

He opened up the back door and the lights were dimmed, except for the small spotlight on the man on stage. Seeing that there was no way he was going to be able to find her until the lights went up, Seeley took a seat at the back of the room and tried to focus on what the Indian man was saying. An hour later Booth was never so lost in his life, he'd started counting people just to stay awake when the lights came up and the dean mentioned there would be a break for lunch. Watching the people get up and file out Booth wasn't sure even then he'd be able to see her. He scanned the crowd, watched the lines moving out of the seats and then he saw her. She had been sitting next to Max and a younger man. She turned to put her coat on, and he saw that she was wearing his jersey, his heart swelled with pride. Just then, the younger man reached out to help her with her coat, he bent down and said something close to her ear and she looked up and laughed. Booth's stomach dropped to the floor. When they turned to head out of the room, he thought that he recognized the guy, but couldn't be sure where from. He thought that they would have to pass right by him to exit, except that the doors to the side of the room opened up and they angled down that way.

Booth waited until he could get out of the row of seats and headed outside himself, towards the exit doors that they had taken. Hurrying around the side of the auditorium, he saw Max and Temperance get into a black four runner. He tried to run through the crowd, and realized how much easier it was to run through a group of people when he had a blocker, "TEMPE!" he yelled, too late, she shut her door and the four-runner pulled away from the curb. Booth swore and headed to the parking lot, when he realized, duh-he had a phone. He called her number and immediately got her voicemail, "Hey you've reached the Bone Lady-if this is Angela leave a message, anyone else hang up!" he smiled at hearing his own voice, they'd played around with the voice mail for a while before settling on this one. "Hey Temp-It's Seeley, call me kiddo-I'm…well, just call me k?" he said into the phone. Deciding to grab himself something to eat he got in his car and headed to the nearest sandwich shop.

Pulling into the parking lot, Seeley thought his luck was changing for the good, seeing the four-runner in the parking lot. He went inside and saw her and Max and the young man sitting at a table in the corner, she had her hair down and he stopped for a second and thought that he couldn't remember her ever wearing it like that. Threading his way through the tables, he smiled slowly when it hit him who the other guy was. Walking up behind his girl, he put his hand on her shoulder and said, "Zack Addy-you're not hitting on my girl are you?"

Temperance turned at the white hot burn on her shoulder and looked up towards him, "Seeley!" she smiled and jumped up, putting her arms around him and hugging him. He leaned down and kissed her on the lips softly and said, "Hey babe-good morning", he looked up at Max and said, "Dr. Keenan"

"Seeley Booth" Zack said, "What a surprise to see you here, a little outside of your normal Saturday activities isn't it? I didn't realize that you were all that interested in Forensic Anthropology" he smiled and stood to shake Booth's hand. Max also stood and said, "Its Max, Seeley, not Dr. Keenan." He also shook his hand and then settled down to dive into his sandwich.

"Well, maybe not as interested in the subject as I should be, I'm certainly interested in what she thinks of it" he nodded to her and started to pull the chair out next to her. Then something about the way Zack was looking at her made him sit in her chair and pull her onto his lap instead. "Good game last night, by the way Addy, you almost had us"

The two of them started talking football while Booth idly ran his hand up and down Temperance's arm. She was just happy that he had shown up. She'd never seen him in a baseball cap before and thought he looked even better than without it, especially since it was on backwards. Today he was in jeans and a Flyers sweatshirt. Her blood was pounding through her veins at how sexy he looked dressed down. Concentrating on trying to finish her sandwich, she put half of it on a napkin and passed it to Booth. He noticed and stopped mid sentence, "is this a veggie sandwich Bone Lady?" she nodded yes as she tucked a cucumber into her mouth, "thanks Babe, but I'll get my own, be right back?" she stood and he got up to go get in line.

Temperance sat down and Zack said, "I hope he doesn't feel threatened by me taking his girlfriend and her escort to lunch?" his voice was light, but somewhat acerbic.

Picking up on it faster than Temperance did, Max said, "I don't think you threaten him at all, to be honest. If anything, you may have spurred him to become closer to our little Temperance" he winked and smiled at her.

"Well, anything I can do to help" Zack said sarcastically, making them all laugh. Temperance blushed, she'd never had one guy show her interest before, and now she had two? She finished her sandwich and looked around the room. She caught Booth's stare from the line and smiled at him.

As soon as their gazes linked the rest of the room ceased to exist, and they were all alone. The tip of her tongue darted out to moisten her lip and she felt her face flush at the look of desire he had on his face even from across the room. He twitched his lips into her grin and turned to pay for his sandwich as the room filled with people again. Still staring at him, she was unaware that she'd just looked into a camera held by a young man across the room.

Booth came back to the table where Max was regaling them with the tale from a dig he'd been on years before in Guatemala. Seeley sat down next to Temperance and pulled his chair close enough that she could feel the heat from his thigh. Laughing at the end of Max's story which involved him hanging off the back of a bus holding a chicken, she asked Zack how long he'd been interested in Anthropology as Max and Booth started talking about hockey. Soon she and Zack were deep in a discourse about site recovery and the preferred method of clean-up. Booth watched how animated she was and although he was glad to see her so excited and having someone to talk to, he was a little hurt that she wasn't paying as much attention to him. He wondered briefly if he was interrupting something with her and Zack and then mentally b!tch slapped himself for even thinking that. She was just happy to have someone to talk to about her passion, and as much as he could feign interest, he just wasn't going to be the one she shared those things with. Oh, she could talk to him about them, but it would be like watching a movie with subtitles in his opinion. Deciding to leave her alone and let her enjoy herself, he was surprised at how calm he was. He thought that was a sign he was maturing and he smiled slightly.

He finished his sandwich and leaned back in the chair, his fingers on her neck. He was lightly stroking her neck when he felt her respond. She turned to him and her eyes were indigo pools. He realized he was probably making it difficult for her to concentrate so he stopped. Zack got up to re-fill his soda and asked if anyone else wanted another, no one took him up on his offer so he left the little group.

Max said, "I hope there isn't going to be a testosterone spill over here?" he arched his brow and indicated with his finger that he meant between Zack and Seeley. "No Max, I'm glad he's here, Temperance needs a friend she can share this with, Angela and I don't qualify for that, and no offense, but you're not exactly in her age bracket" he stopped at the wounded look on Max's face.

"Hey, I can still get jiggy wit it" he said in a mock gangster voice, enhancing the image with his arms crossed over his chest. They all laughed at him and he pretended to be hurt, Zack came back and said, "I hope I didn't miss anything?" he smiled at the group and his gaze lingered on Tempe.

"No" she said, "Max was trying to emulate popular culture and it didn't work" she smiled back.

Seeley wondered if she knew just how devastating that smile was on a guy. He grabbed her trash and his and took Max's to the bin by the door and came back, offering her his arm. Looking at Max and Zack, he said, "Do you two mind if I take her back to the lecture?" they both looked at each other and agreed that they didn't mind, and so the four of them headed out of the sub shop and back to the University for the 2nd part of the lecture…

CHAPTER 35

Booth and Temperance walked outside hand in hand when he suddenly stopped in front of her and picked her up in a fireman's carry and put her on his shoulder. Laughing and trying to cover her butt she was kicking and screaming, "Booth! PUT ME DOWN!" she couldn't get too mad as hard as she was laughing. He put her down and she swayed slightly, "Oohh…I feel woozy" she said and he leaned down and pulled her into his embrace. "How do you feel now?" he asked huskily. His lips going to her forehead and down her cheek, she gasped and said "I feel like I never want to leave this spot, and I don't want you to stop that" she burrowed in closer and sought his lips with hers. He stood up slightly and she grabbed his sweatshirt at the collar and deepened the kiss. He put one hand in her hair and the other on her side, her tongue and his fighting for control of the kiss. She pulled back slightly and he lightly nipped her bottom lip, and when she groaned he pulled her in tighter to his body. Reaching down he picked her up and held her in his arms, their mouths never losing contact. He started to walk towards the Explorer and she wrapped her arms around his neck. When they got to the car, he opened the passenger door and sat her inside. She tried to sit there with her legs together under the short skirt and he looked her in the eyes as he pushed her knees apart and leaned into her. Grabbing her butt, he pulled her up against his pelvis and held her with one hand behind her and his other entangled in her hair. Feeling his arousal pressed up against her, she sighed and moaned slightly and Booth leaned in and kissed her again. This time, softly and teasing her with his mouth, he kissed her cheek, trailing kisses to her neck as she leaned back. She put her hands on the side of his head and pulled his mouth back to hers as she scooted closer. Feeling him tense, he hissed slightly and stepped back a little. Still leaning into her, and breathing harshly he said, "Oh my God Temperance, we have to stop-If we don't now, I won't be able to, and there is no way I'm going to do this in the middle of a sub shop parking lot. God girl, you…" he stopped and put his head next to hers, she too was trying to calm her breathing. "Seeley, I'm not sure I want you to stop" she whispered. He looked up and saw the flush on her cheeks and tried to catch her eyes, tipping her chin up, he quietly said, "Bones-when this happens, it will happen right. I'm not going to pressure you to do anything you can't handle right now, you're only 16 and I'm a guy and we only want one thing, but I'll wait for that one thing, for you" he stared into her eyes, "trust me".

"I trust you Seeley- I do, this is all new to me, but I trust you won't hurt me. Although, if we weren't in this stupid car I might not have let you stop!" she said with mock anger. Laughing slightly at her, he leaned in and kissed her again. Pulling her up against him again he held her as she wrapped her arms around him. "I love you Temperance Brennan" he whispered into her hair.

She hugged him tighter and felt the hot sting of tears. "I love you too Seeley" he leaned back and looked into her face, "why the tears then little one?" he asked, his thumb wiping away the one that spilled over her eyelash. She sniffed slightly and said, "I just hope that you won't be like everyone else I love and leave, but that's dumb because life changes and you can't keep someone forever and I can't expect you to stay with me forever when there is no way to gauge forever and feelings change, people change and" he cut her off with a kiss and said, "I'll be here as long as you want me here, no strings, no demands, okay?" she nodded and kissed him back, "Okay"

"Lets get you back before Max and Zack think we got lost" he said, turning her legs around to sit in the car right. Watching him through the windshield as he walked around to the driver's side she thought to herself, forever isn't long enough.

They drove to the university hands entwined and Booth said casually, "You look really pretty with your hair down and I like that you're wearing my jersey today, I'm sorry about whatever happened that made you lose it" he looked at her and squeezed her fingers before turning his attention back to the road, "Do you want me to tell you what it was?" she asked quietly, not wanting anything to spoil this day like talking about the Perotta nightmare. "Not today, today is all about you, I don't want that to be spoiled, especially when I can guess what happened to be honest, I'm sure she's not done and that's what makes me mad-I'll do what I can to keep her off of you, you can trust that" he told her.

"I'll be okay, I'll sic Angela on her if nothing else!" she giggled slightly and turned to him, "I'm glad you came today, I wondered if I'd get to see you"

"Well, we Booth boys aim to please little lady" he said in an exaggerated southern drawl, turning to park. They headed up to the auditorium and saw Max and Zack waiting outside, "I told you they were coming back" Max said to Zack.

"Yes-you did Max" he replied, not at all happy with the situation. Although taking girls from other guys wasn't his style it wasn't every day he found a girl whose interests paralleled his so much, plus she was beautiful. He would give his scholarship away to meet a girl like that. Forcing a smile onto his face, he opened the door and bowed low as they all walked in. He figured, if he can't have her as a girlfriend, maybe a friend would do. The four of them headed in to find seats and to wait for Dr. Nigel-Murray to begin speaking. Temperance was hoping that she could get her book signed after wards, and asked Max if he thought he might be able to get her close enough to ask. He told her that he wasn't the only Anthropologist there, but he'd see what he could do. Zack smiled and said, "I'd like mine signed too, if you can swing it Max"

Max looked at Booth and said, "Do you want anything signed?" with a grin. "Nah, Doc, I'm okay-now if Luc Robitaille was up there we could talk" rolling her eyes at him, Temperance playfully punched him and then settled up against his shoulder as the lights dimmed.

CHAPTER 36

Temperance was enamored with the British Dr. Nigel-Murray, she stared at him throughout the entire lecture like he was dipped in chocolate. Seeley was lights out mentally about 10 minutes into it, but he kept his eyes open and tried not to drool as his jaw went slack from boredom. Occasionally he would discuss a gritty find, but mostly it was dry and boring to Seeley. His mind wandered around the auditorium, thought about the kiss in the car-whoa, stop that Seeley, he thought, that makes it hard, errr difficult to sit here. She was leaning slightly forward in her seat and he reached his hand down and lightly starting stroking the waistband of her skirt, his thumb rasping over the warm skin, that made him even harder and although it was uncomfortable, he didn't stop. Temperance looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes burning but still filled with desire, she leaned back forcing him to move his hand or risk a broken arm. She whispered softly into his ear, "Knock it off Seeley-this is fascinating", just feeling her breath on his ear and neck like that was causing his ears to steam and his brain to mis-fire.

"Yeah-fascinating" he mumbled, trying to re-arrange his lap. When she first sat down, she'd put her coat into her lap, and now that she'd leaned back in her seat, he moved his hand over to her upper thigh. Moving under the jacket he stroked the top of her thigh, slowly moving his hand to her inner thigh when she clamped her legs together and slapped his hand, which caused both Zack and Max to look as well as a number of other people close by. Booth kept his hand where it was until the people looked back to the stage and then brought it into his own lap. "Sorry" he whispered into her hair, "I'll stop" she looked at him and her expression was a cross between pity, irritation and desire. "If you don't-you'll regret it" she told him under her breath, channeling her inner Angela. Booth smiled at his fierce little warrior and went back to thinking of sports and anything other than Anthropology.

All too soon for Temperance, and not soon enough for Seeley the lecture ended. She went with Max to get her book and Zack's signed. She was very animated in the line with Max; she was talking to two other men and a woman standing in line with her. Seeley had never seen her so outgoing, it must just take this subject to get her fired up he thought. He and Zack made their way outside with the rest of the people leaving. Standing outside they were talking about football and hockey when Zack said, "So, I gotta know man, it's been bugging me all day, why her?" he turned to look at the stockier boy. Although the same height, Zack was wiry and lean whereas Seeley was built solidly. "What do you mean, 'why her'"? he asked him, "what's wrong with her?"

Zack cleared his throat at the look on Booth's face and said, "It's not bad man, I just wonder why all of a sudden you started dating the library set, I've known you for years and you're always surrounded by the cheerleaders or the drill team, but the bookworms are never around. Temperance seems like an odd choice for you. Even at Marantha you're somewhat of a legend with the girls."

"I don't know man, once you've been with one cheerleader, you've been with them all" he said, Zack giving him a knowing nod and smile, "I needed something more, something about her just feels right" he stopped, not sure he wanted to get into the very sensitive reasons why Booth needed to be with her. She made him feel like a knight in shining armor, she made him feel invincible, like he could take on the world and all he wanted to do, was take it on for her. That was his reason though, not the one he was going to share with Zack Addy. "Speaking of which, you're a pretty popular guy in your own right from what I hear, that chick Roxie and that one girl, what's her name…the goth one…um….oh yeah, Tessa-she was talking about the "Z MAN" in homeroom a couple of weeks ago" he kidded back to him.

"Tessa was…WOW" the two of them laughed and bumped fists. Max and Tempe exited the building and she was on cloud nine, holding the book she looked like it was the Holy Grail. Booth smiled at the childlike look of wonderment she had on her face. "So, kiddo, what's next?" he asked her reaching for her hand. "I have to be home at 6" a small frown on her face, "and it's 4:45 now, what did you want to do?"

Zack interrupted and said, "Well, have fun whatever it is, I've got to take my sister to Ballet, Temperance, some other time maybe?" he nodded and started to walk away and she said, "Wait Zack" letting go of Seeley's hand, she walked over to the other boy and said, "Here's my phone number, maybe we can study sometime? I go to the library a lot and it would be nice to study with someone that enjoys the topic too?" he smiled and said, "Yeah, that would be fun, thanks" he entered her number into his phone and then gave her his. Watching all of this Seeley could feel the cold clamp of jealousy start to close over his heart, but rationally he knew she was just looking for another friend. Zack looked over her head as she walked back and nodded at Seeley, "just friends" he mouthed and turned to go. Max watched all of this with the indulgent smile of a person who had been there before. He turned to Booth and shook his hand, "good job Son, you're doing just fine" and when Tempe got back he said to her, "I hope you enjoyed yourself young lady and I will see you on Sunday?"

Temperance told him she'd be at the museum and gave him a hug, "bye Max" she smiled and turned to Seeley. Entwining her arm in his, she looked up and said, "What can we do for an hour?"

Seeley grinned at her and said, "Well, I think of a few things…but let's stay away from there for now, okay?" he winked and watched her blush. The two of them walked to the parking lot talking about what they could do before she had to go home to the Sweets.

CHAPTER 37

Seeley and Temperance ended up going to the park and sitting in the car watching the kids at the duck pond. The weather was turning colder and there were signs of snow coming up. They talked about the lecture and Tempe told him that she was going to do that very thing someday. "I just bet you will too," he told her, "I can see you up there, talking to people just like you who want to discover the why's and hows of cultures, societies and human remains. It grabs onto you, your eyes light up when you talk about it, and I like to see that."

"What grabs you?" she asked. They'd talked in the past, but he'd never really given her a real answer, he talked about the Army, and in his profile he mentioned being an architect. "What grabs me? Well, I guess I just want to make everyone safe. I think justice is important. I hate watching people suffer, I mean you read about all these things where people are hurt or killed or missing and no one seems to know how to find their killers, their families never know what happened. I'd like to fix that. Someday. I also want to give something back to my country, I have a lot of freedoms that are taken for granted, by me and by people around me, I want to earn those rights and those freedoms." He trailed off, grinning sheepishly, he said, "Sounds silly huh? My knight in shining armor complex kicking in I guess…"

"I don't think it sounds silly at all, I think you are suited for that. The Army sounds dangerous though, are you ready for that? What if you get shipped to Afghanistan or Iraq? Does Pops know?"

Seeley had thought of all those questions as well, and he really didn't have answers to them until she asked the questions out loud. "It will be dangerous, and I am ready. I'm ready to learn to be a man, Pops served his country too, he'll understand even if he doesn't agree with me. As far as where I get shipped, wherever I go I'll give it everything I have and regardless of the outcome I'll know that I was able to support my country."

Temperance was silent as she thought about what he said. It seemed such an important thought to have by someone so young. When her brother left, he had told her it was his duty to go and make something of himself, she had thought then that duty was something different. Hearing Seeley talk about it, she understood what he needed to do to become the man he wanted to be.

Looking over at him, she said, "I hope that you will be safe Seeley. Will you enlist after graduation?" 7 short months away she thought. "Most likely, Pops still thinks I'm going to play hockey at the U, and you know that's a lot of pressure too, but this is something I have to do."

He turned to look at her and said, "There's something else I have to do" and he leaned over and kissed her. She closed her eyes and felt herself melt into him. She leaned back towards the door, he leaned into her and when he was completely off balance, she placed her hands on his cheeks and she pulled him a little closer and impishly took his hat off and tucked it behind her with one hand. With her other hand, she opened the door and slipped out as he fell almost completely over the console of the front seat.

Jumping out of the truck, she waited to see if he was going to follow. Once he realized what had happened, he looked up and she could see the surprise in his eyes. He smiled broadly and said, "oh you are so going to get it Bone Lady" and then he nimbly climbed over the console and started after her. She ran towards a table and bench that was solidly mounted to the ground and got behind it. She put his hat on her head and pouted and pushed one hip out in a "come get me" gesture. As he went to the left, she went to the right and he could see that it wasn't going to be easy to get her. Suddenly as she was preening, thinking she had him right where she wanted him, he jumped over the table and was able to surprise her long enough to grab her. Unfortunately, his momentum carried him over and as he grabbed her, he started to fall. Realizing he was going to fall on top of her, he spun her around and arched himself to land on his back. The two of them hit the ground hard. She landed on him full force and immediately reached to put her arms out on either side of his body. "Seeley! Booth! BOOTH!" she hollered at him as he lay there quietly, "oh my god" she whispered, "Please wake up Seeley, please?" he cracked one eye and looked at her, still laying full body on top of him, her face awash in panic. Opening both eyes he croaked, "See what you did? I think you broke me!" she started to get off of him and he clamped his arms around her. "Not yet, you must pay for that little stunt" he said, as she started to struggle. With one swift movement, he partially rolled her under him and put his leg over hers; grabbing her wrists with one hand he was straddling her and had her trapped. Reaching up, he took off the hat and put it back on his head, "Never mess with the hair, Bone Lady" he said in a sinister tone and started tickling her with his free hand. As she gasped and laughed he continued, peppering each onslaught of her ribs with kisses to her face and neck. When she complained that she was going to pee her pants if he didn't stop, he relented by letting her hands go, but still lay partly on top of her. When she could breathe again without panting and giggling, she said, "I hate that I have to go home so soon, I could lay here all day with you" she shyly peeked up at him through her eyelashes.

"Well, as much fun as rolling around in the duck crap is, you still have to go, and if I want to stay in Pops good graces, I have to go home too, I did some pretty half assed chores today and he's not going to like that" he said as he started to slide off of her.

"DUCK CRAP?" she said, pushing him off of her and jumping up, turning left and right she was looking at her skirt and her tights to see if there was any on her, she took off her jacket to look at it too. Seeley laughed and sat up and said, "I think you're good, but if you step over here one step I can look a little closer for you?" she looked down and realized one more step and he would be looking straight up her skirt. "No thank you Seeley Booth" she said primly, "I think I can check there myself later."

He laughed out loud and said, "I'm sure you can-you're all good, what about me?" he turned around in front of her and she reached over to knock a wet leaf off of his butt, "was there something there or were you just trying to touch my butt?" he said over his shoulder.

Sputtering that there was something there, he turned and grinned at her, "You're incorrigible, you know that right?" she said heading to the car. He was still laughing when he came up behind her and put his arm around her and placed his hat on her head. "I'm something alright. You know, if you keep looking so cute in my clothes, pretty soon I won't have any to wear" she reached up to grab the hat and he said, "keep it-I've got tons of them." Booth helped her into the car and they drove to her house. "Just let me off down the way, I don't want to get into trouble" she told him. "Can I come meet them? Maybe they would be a little more lenient if they knew you had a boyfriend?"

"NO! Please don't Seeley, as much as I hate lying to them, I can't let them meet you, and it'll ruin everything"

"Are you ashamed of me?" He asked slightly hurt.

"I'm not ashamed of you, I'm ashamed of them, they don't understand…I just…please Seeley, when it's right, I'll introduce you okay?" roughly around the time I'm a legal adult she thought.

"Okay-I trust you. Tempe-can I ask you a question?" he said, pulling the car over about a block from her house.

"You can ask me anything" she told him, turning to look at him.

He took her hand and said, "You know the Winter Formal dance?" she nodded, her chest tight and her breathing labored, "it's in 2 weeks, the week after the SC game in fact, and well, do you want to go?" he asked. Hoping she would say yes, he held his breath. He'd never been so nervous asking a girl to anything before.

"I'd love to go" she told him, her face beaming and eyes shining, "I'll need to have Angela help me get out of the house, but yes, I'd love to go"

He let out his pent up breath and smiled, leaning over he kissed her cheek and said that he would text her later and maybe they could chat a little tomorrow, if she was able to get away. "I hope so" she told him as she jumped out of the truck. Smoothing down her hair and tucking the hat into the inside of her jacket, she walked towards the house. Booth watched her until she was on the porch and then he leaned back in the seat and thought to himself, "What is this girl doing to you Seeley?" deciding that the roof of the Explorer didn't have the answer written on it, he leaned up and began to drive home.

Click Click Click the camera took the photos and logged date and time with every shot…

CHAPTER 38A

Temperance went into the house and Rebecca called out to her that she was in the office. She went in there to get the initial grilling for information over. "How was the lecture?" Rebecca asked when she came inside the doorway. "It was informative" Tempe offered up very little, she tried hard to be as pleasant as she could when talking to the Sweets. It was best to just answer the questions posed, without offering up anything else to keep the conversations brief.

"Well, I haven't seen your schedule for next week, so I am unable to plan accordingly-Can you get the schedule to me soon?" she asked her, turning to look at her in the doorway. "What are you wearing?"

Temperance looked down and saw that her jacket was open and the jersey was in full sight. She attempted to close the lapels of the jacket with her hand and said, "It's an old football jersey, I got it at the rummage sale a couple of months ago, the one the school put on?" she tried to keep the tremor from her voice, "It's a little bit too big for me, but I thought I should maybe wear some things to support my school, they…well the football team made it into the State Championship game I guess…" her voice faltered and she looked up, "the jersey, the hoody, I found a football on your bed, I never realized what a sports fan you were Temperance. Is there something you aren't telling us?" she looked past her to see Lance standing behind her. "Yes Temperance, is there something we need to know?" he asked coming in to kiss his wife on the cheek.

"No-I just wanted to support my school, it's a big honor" she told them, trying to edge out of the room. "You've never cared about supporting the athletics at St. Agnes before Temperance, why the sudden desire now?" Lance was in his element, getting reluctant people to talk was his forte.

"I'm going to be attending that school for the next 2 and a half years, it seemed an appropriate thing to do, I would like to have a more rounded transcript than just academia, I was thinking that maybe I could attend some athletic events this coming spring maybe, just to observe. I know that I've never shown an interest before, but I'm becoming more comfortable here and at school and well I know that it will help me to have firsthand knowledge when I have to start researching culture and societies and things in college. Have I done something wrong?" she hoped by turning the interrogation back on them that she might just get out of this unscathed.

"I'm not sure if that would be something that we would be comfortable with Temperance, just who would you be attending these events with? That Angela girl? She seems to be the only friend you have, and I for one am puzzled as to why a girl with her obvious…_experience_ would want with a 16 year old girl anyway. Do you have particular events in mind? I mean, is this going to be an every night thing? What about the museum, and the home? Have you thought about what will happen if you aren't here? Will you be quitting your job for this new social obligation you imagine that you have?" Rebecca was getting revved up and Temperance knew she would have to think quickly to get out of this.

"Well, I know that attending the SC game would be out of the question, because it's in McCandless, but hockey starts in February and I thought some of those games would be fun and yes, I would attend with Angela. I know you don't approve of her, but I'm sure if you took the time to meet her you would see that she is really a very nice person. I don't think that either of us thinks her age or experience is a reason to not be friends. We like the same kind of music and both enjoy the museum, and speaking of that, I would still work there. I have to in order to get my college credits in place, and it allows me some experience outside of school and home. My chores here wouldn't be an issue either, I get them done and I have excellent grades" she wasn't sure whether to continue or not but decided to just plunge ahead, "I would like to fit in with the kids at school, I'm kind of on the outside and maybe by going to some school sponsored events, I can assimilate a little more. There are a lot of things that I haven't done at the school that the other girls my age are doing, and…well…maybe I'm missing out on something that would be important to experience at this stage in my development. Like athletic events, theater and maybe a dance or something" she stopped at the expression on their faces. Knowing she may have taken it too far, she wasn't surprised at their response.

"Absolutely not young lady, we did not bring you into our home to become a degenerate teenager, a dance? That's ridiculous, you're 16 years old and excuse me, but 16 year old boys only have one thing on their mind and you are not going to be subject to anything like that while you live under our roof, I think you have sufficient liberties besides school, you attended a lecture at the university today, you are allowed to work outside the home, you go to the library, I think that is more than enough. Your father and I have no intention of becoming grandparents to your little brat just because you think you need to have the teenager experience. No, I'm sorry extracurricular activities are completely out of the question. I hope that you understand that there is no compromise on this subject?" Lance's voice was controlled and Rebecca placed her hand on his arm, "I'm sure you can understand where your father is coming from?" she asked her, "I think this discussion is over, please remove that jersey and bring it and the hoody downstairs, along with the football. You will not be allowed to wear them in this house. Out of sight, out of mind-that's all" she finished, turning back to her computer.

Temperance stood there a moment longer just looking at them, "you heard your mother, upstairs and bring those things down here now-and Temperance, I hope for your sake that this is the end of this foolishness" Lance said, also sitting down to his own computer.

"Yes Sir, yes Ma'am" she whimpered, going upstairs to do as she was told. When she got upstairs, she took off the jersey and held it in her hands; she brought it up to her face to wipe her eyes and got the hoody out of her closet. Why did I wear this today? She thought bitterly, I can't believe that I was that stupid. Gathering up the hoody which still smelled faintly of Booth, she took the items downstairs and into the office. Rebecca indicated that she should put them on a chair and then told her that they needed her to complete dinner. Reluctantly Tempe put them down and headed into the kitchen. She let the tears fall silently as she completed the evening meal. When it was ready to serve, she went in to the office and saw that the items were gone. She could only imagine where. She started back upstairs when she heard Lance say, "Where do you imagine you are going?"

"I thought I'd go upstairs and read a bit, maybe listen to the radio for a while" she turned back to him, "Dinner is ready Temperance, you will join us for the meal" he told her pointing to the dining room. Temperance and the Sweets sat down to dinner and although she put food on her plate, she didn't take more than a couple of bites, she mostly pushed it around her plate. "I hope that melancholy expression will not be a permanent part of our meals?" Rebecca asked her, "Frankly, I think that it is very disrespectful"

"No Ma'am, I'm sorry" Temperance proceeded to clean her plate of everything but the rosemary lemon chicken breast. She still refused to eat meat and she didn't care what they took away from her, which was something she would not compromise on. Blithely ignoring her mood, the Sweets discussed their Sunday plans and Temperance was glad that they were to be gone most of the day. She had to work in the morning, but would be able to talk to Booth in the afternoon. That was the one thing that was going to get her through the rest of the night. Asking if she could be excused, the Sweets reminded her once again how to do the dishes the correct way and then told her that she may go upstairs when she was done. Temperance began clearing the table when she heard a slight trilling noise. Instantly freezing, she realized it was her phone and she had forgotten to put it on silent. "What was that?" Rebecca asked, eyebrows arched. "I'm sorry?" Tempe said, "What was what?"

"Lance, is your phone on?" Rebecca asked him. There was a strict rule that all phones were off and ignored during meals, "I don't believe so" he said, checking the display, "No-it's off"

"Maybe I left my radio on" Temperance said, taking the opportunity to bolt upstairs. She quickly turned the phone off and stuffed it into her pillowslip as Rebecca followed her upstairs, reaching over and turning on the radio, Temperance was standing next to her night stand when she entered the room, "I'm sorry mom, I did leave it on after all" she swallowed, hoping the 'mom' would appease her. "Please make sure that you are more careful Temperance, after all power is not cheap and there is no reason to leave an appliance on when you are not in the room" turning to leave, she started towards the jacket on the bed and said, "Please hang up your things immediately" she started to grab the jacket when Temperance beat her to it, "I'm sorry" she gathered it up into a ball and took it to the closet. Rebecca seemed satisfied and Temperance put the jacket onto a hanger. The whole time keeping the ball cap behind it so that she didn't have to give that up too…

CHAPTER 38B

Booth drove home in a blissful state. He was glad that she had said yes to the dance, and afraid of the repercussions that would happen if the Sweets found out. He was sure that Angela would be able to get her out of the house, he was just wondering for how long. Mentally arguing with himself about whether to introduce himself to them or make Tempe happy and not. Deciding that she knew better how to handle her foster parents, he would just stay low and take what she was able to give right now. Speaking of which, man the episode in the car at lunch was still making his head spin. He'd never been one to jump into a physical relationship, hell the only girl he'd ever been with like that was Payton, but no matter what they had done he'd never felt like that before. Tempe could boil his blood with just a look. He knew that she had absolutely no idea of her power over him either. He wanted to protect her at the same time that he wanted to plunge himself into her very core. Shaking his head to get the pornado out of his mind's eye, he chuckled that he was this tore up over a 16 year old girl. I must be some sort of degenerate he thought.

Turning into his own driveway, he was surprised to see Fischers car there. Looking at his phone, he saw that there were no messages or missed calls. Before getting out of the Explorer, he sent a text to Temperance, "hey Bones-miss you already—ttyl lv BMOC". He walked into the house and Fischer was sitting at the bar playing dominoes with his Pops. "What's up Booth?" he asked, eyes glued to the game, "How's your head?"

"Better-what the hell happened last night?" he asked, stowing his jacket in the front closet and giving his Pops a fist bump, "How did I get home?" Hank wasn't dumb, he remembered what it was like to be an 18 year old kid on the football team, and he knew enough that he was raising his grandsons to be responsible. "Wendell brought you home, you had something to drink I guess. All I know is that you sing horribly off key man!" he laughed at the cringing look on Booth's face. "I don't remember anything, just waking up this morning with a major headache and only one shoe-I don't remember singing at all!"

"Good thing man, it was awful" his gaze back on the game, "so whatcha doing here?" Booth asked. "Seeley Joseph Booth-that was plain rude" his Pops said, "your friends are welcome here any time they want to" a stern tone entered his Pops' normally congenial tone. "Sorry Fisch" Booth said.

"I came by to see if you wanted to play some one on one tomorrow, Wendell is in and so is Hester, thought we could go to the rink downtown, maybe get in some speed drills or something? Plus, that new Transformers movie is at the dollar theater; maybe we could hit that on the way home?" Fischer and Wendell had heard Payton telling the girls that she was going to be trailing Seeley and they wanted to make sure that he wasn't alone where she could ambush him for the time being. They were still hazy on the plans, the girls wouldn't tell them anything since they had jumped ship on Payton, but they knew she was still out to screw him over.

"Sounds good, but I promised Pops I chop some wood for the fireplace and I've got some essays to finish for the college entrance exams, so gonna pass. Plus, does Hodgins know you guys are going to be on the ice? You know how he can get. The SC game is going to be our main focus next week. Personally, I'd rather wait until after the game to get on the ice" he said grabbing a soda for himself and Fischer as he sat down to watch the game.

"Suit yourself man, Hodgins is still creaming his shorts right now, he won't care we're on the ice" he stopped when Hank bopped him on the head, "keep a civil tongue young man" he growled never looking up from the game. Swallowing and grimacing Fischer said, "Yes Sir, sorry" he winked at Booth. Seeing that he had no chance to win, he stood up and said, "Thanks for the soda and the game Pops, Booth-if you change your mind, call Wendell" he turned to leave saying over his shoulder, "how was your "thing" today anyway?"

"It was well worth it" Booth replied, slightly choking on his own soda at the expression on Fischers face, "I'll just bet it was" Fischer said and left.

"What did you have to do at the U today Shrimp?" Pops asked putting the dominoes away in their custom wooden box.

"I went to an Anthropology lecture with Temperance and Max" he told him getting up to join him in the living room, "It was nice, boring, but nice, I'm glad I went" especially since Zack Addy was there, he thought.

"I like that young lady, she's very pleasant, way out of your league though Shrimp-and her friend wowie! She's the kind of girl that can get your blood flowing if you know what I mean" he winked and nudged his grandson as they settled on the couch to watch TV. "Pops! Settle down, and what do you mean out of my league?" he knew that his grandfather was most likely teasing, but he'd had the same thought himself and was curious.

"I mean, she is very smart, very pretty and she is very sure of her future. That girl has a path in place and intends to follow it come hell or high water and no good looking football player is going to de-rail that. I don't mean it in a bad way, just be patient-she's a serious girl and she's had a rough life from what I could gather, so she may not fall to the Booth charm right away-you have to respect a girl like that, you can't rush her" he said to him, "do you understand?"

"Yeah Pops, I do, and I know-she's by far the smartest girl I've ever met, but man, there is something about her that just makes me…."he stopped, not sure he should put a word to the way she made him feel. Pops reached over and patted his knee, "I understand Shrimp, she's got you in a twist and you're flying in the wind-let the breeze take you where it will, it'll all be okay in the end" he leaned back and thought of how proud of his grandson he was.

"Where's Jared?" Booth asked, looking around, normally he'd be downstairs with them, "Cricket went to a birthday party at the hockey rink and then he was going to go to Howards house to stay the night, so it's just me and you Shrimp" Pops was looking through the TV Guide when Booth felt his phone vibrate, it was a good thing too, he didn't see the stricken look on his face when he saw what had come across on his phone…

CHAPTER 39

"Pops, I'm going to go upstairs for a minute, um..I don't feel so well…k?" Booth stood up still staring at his phone. "Shrimp, you okay?" he asked him worriedly, "Yeah pops, just sour stomach, no big deal, I'll be back in a sec" Booth rushed upstairs and called the number the text came from.

"What the hell is this?" He asked when she answered. "You tell me Booth-what the hell is this crap on my phone? Where were you and what are you doing-how did she even get my phone number?"

"I don't know, I don't even know where this came from, I mean…it must have been last night, but I don't remember it, I don't remember anything from last night, my last clear memory is deciding to even go to the stupid party…what the hell am I going to do? What if she sends it to her?" he asked, "-what do I do?"

"How am I supposed to know Seeley? That's my best friend and supposedly you're her boyfriend, her head is going to explode if she sees this. How did they get my phone number?"

"One of them must have got my phone at some point; I swear I had no idea, what if they got her number too? Oh my god, what if they've already sent this to her?" Booth ran his fingers through his hair as he paced, he couldn't get the image out of his head.

"I'm going to call her, and, I don't know beg her to call off the goon squad, at this point, I don't know what else to do, I can't let her hurt her like this and you're right, she'll lose it if she sees this. Ange-I gotta go, I'll call you later" he hung up the phone and sat on the edge of his bed. He couldn't leave until Pops went to bed, but he couldn't take the chance she would see it.

His phone vibrated and the text said, "What time do we meet at TB?-ANGEL"

He debated half a second and then sent, "BL-no matter what you see or hear, I didn't do it, please believe me, and call me when you can-BMOC"

His second text was "Angel-call u when I'm omw"

Booth went into his bathroom and looked at his expression in the mirror, his face was pale, he splashed water on his face and decided to go downstairs and wait for Pops to get tired, should be just an hour or so, he always went to bed early.

Heading back downstairs, his gut was twisted; he could only hope that she had her phone off. Sitting down next to his grandfather he leaned his head back on the sofa. "Feeling okay Shrimp?" Pops asked him, turning down the sound on the Hellfighters. "I'm A-ok Pops, told you just a little sour stomach, must have been all that bone talk today…didn't agree with me. So John Wayne tonight huh?" the two of them launched into a much discussed topic, John Wayne and his movies, which ones worked, which ones didn't. Although they had debated this all before, each time was a new and interesting discussion. Eventually though, Pops started yawning and telling Seeley not to stay up all night mooning over his girl, he went to bed. As soon as he heard his grandfather settle in, he went outside and called Angela, "I'm on my way" he told her and hung up.

Booth drove carefully towards her house and parked about three houses down, waiting for Angela, he was surprised to see her arrive in the showy jacked up silver truck. She hopped down and Booth sighed, he was definitely in for it, he'd never seen Angela look so upset. She was wearing sweatpants and had her hair in twin ponies. She marched over to his truck and said, "If she wasn't my best friend, I'd kick your ass and then have one of my goons kick it again" jabbing her finger in his face, she said, "you better fix this!"

"I will Ange- I promise, how do we get her out of there?" He looked at his watch and saw that it was closing in on 10 o'clock, "What time do they go to bed?"

"Stay here" she told him pointing to the curb, "I'll be right back"

Angela crept up to the house and saw the lights were off downstairs, the only lights upstairs looked to be the hallway and Tempe's room, and then the hallway flickered off, followed closely by the light in the back bedroom. Angela had never been in there, but she knew that it was hers. She went back to Booth and told him, "her room is the one in the back, the Sweets' room is up front, no lights top or bottom, hop the fence-there's a gravel path under her window, see if you can hit it w/out breaking it. No backyard light, I checked, there's also a large tree against the back fence, be ready to duck if lights come on in the house" Nodding that he understood they both went to the house, Angela stood back and waited for him to go over the fence. Standing in the bed of her truck she was able to look into the backyard and see everything.

Booth hopped the fence and went directly to the path, he picked up a few stones and lightly threw them at the window, when nothing happened after a minute, he picked up another couple and threw them. Suddenly, a flashlight came on and the window slid open. Not knowing who it was, he ducked behind the tree. Temperance shined the light into the backyard and was about to close the window when she saw him come out from behind the tree. "Seeley?" She whispered loudly, "What are you doing?"

"Can you come down here? Please?" he whispered back. "No! I'll get busted, they aren't even asleep yet, what are you doing here?"

"Tempe-throw me your phone, please?" he asked her, "I'll explain it, I promise, just throw me your phone-trust me!"

Temperance wasn't sure what to do when she saw movement outside the fence, recognizing Angela's truck she said, "What is going on? Is that Angela?"

"Yes-Temperance, we don't have a lot of time, just throw me your phone honey please?"

Deciding to trust her friends, she got the phone from her pillowslip and threw it down to them; it still hadn't been turned back on from earlier. She was scared and worried that something bad was going to happen. Booth caught the phone and vaulted back over the fence; he and Angela turned it on and looked through the messages. The only one he saw was the one he had sent earlier, there were no missed calls, voicemails or anything. The only new number was Zacks. Shaking their heads, they decided that it was just them that had gotten the text. Booth went back over the fence a third time and told her he was going to leave the phone behind the tree rather than take the chance of throwing it back up to her, she whispered, "What is going on Seeley? Angela? Talk to me."

Angela said, "Tomorrow, when you have a chance, call me Sweetie, I'll explain everything, just for now, go to bed and we'll talk to you in the morning."

"Are you okay? Am I okay?" She asked them both.

"Yes Honey, you'll be fine and no matter what, remember that I love you" Booth told her as he blew her a kiss and climbed back over the fence. Temperance shook her head and pulled the window closed, she had no idea what was going on, but hoped that it wasn't going to get any weirder. She was scared all the same for them both though, they had seemed so upset. She was also just a tiny bit thrilled to have gotten such a late night visit from him.

Booth and Angela conferred outside of the fence after she ducked back inside her window. "I don't know what is going on, what number did yours come from?" Booth asked her. Repeating the number, he said, "That's Daisy's phone, mine came from Payton's phone-let's hope this is just a test to see what we'll do. Believe me Angela, I would never knowingly do that, I swear I had no idea."

"I believe you, and believe me, that b!tch is barking up the wrong tree with me" Angela told him, "I'm going home, we'll talk tomorrow."

As she drove away, she made a phone call and explained what had gone on and about the text she had received, as she listened to the person on the other end, she decided what she would do right then and there to make sure that Temperance wasn't going to be hurt by this…

CHAPTER 40A

Seeley got up early, took a shower and left his Pops a note, "going to church, I'll be home early to do chores, love S"

He drove over to her house and knocked on the door. "Seeley Booth! What a surprise, Payton didn't say that you would be joining us for church today"

"Hello Col Perotta Sir, I didn't know if she would remember or not to be honest" Seeley greeted the imposing man at the door. Joy came up behind her husband, "Oh Seeley-it is so good to see you, it's been a while, Payton is upstairs getting ready, won't you come in?" the Col stepped aside and Seeley entered the house. Standing in the familiar room he realized that he had spent most of his teenage years either in this house, or with this family. Payton yelled down the stairs, "Mom! Where is my slip?"

Flushing slightly, Joy looked at Seeley and whispered, "Excuse me please Seeley-coming Payton" she headed up the stairs. Entering her daughter's room, she was a little embarrassed to see the red mark on her neck, but ignoring it she said, "Seeley is downstairs Payton, you didn't tell us he would be joining us for church today-do you two have plans afterwards?" she bustled over to the armoire in the corner to look for Payton's slip.

"Uh- I must have forgotten Mom, sorry, it's okay right?" thinking fast Payton was hoping that Seeley wasn't going to cause a scene or ambush her when she went downstairs. She'd sent the text last night after leaving Macks house. She wasn't all that into him, but he was someone to go to the dance with and he certainly liked the perks she could provide. While not as experienced as Seeley, he was willing to experiment a little and she found she liked being the one in control.

"Oh yes Honey, it's always nice to see him, it's been a while, have you two been getting along?"

"Well, we've been busy, you know football, cheer squad, school…senior year is totally different" taking the slip her mom handed her, she went into her bathroom to finish getting dressed. Joy went downstairs telling her daughter, "Hurry up Payton, you know your Dad likes to sit up front"

Grumbling to herself about even having to go and worried slightly about what Seeley was really here for, she finished her makeup and skipped down the stairs.

"Hi Seeley" she said, coming close for a kiss on the cheek, "I had forgotten you were coming over today"

"No problem Payton, I thought maybe you and I could go grab a coffee or something after the service? I can't stay long, Pops has a chore list a mile long, but it's been a while and well, you know" he finished, smiling at her.

"That sounds fun" she replied, already dread building up in her stomach.

"Well kids, lets head out, Seeley drive safely and we'll meet you two at the church" the Col said grabbing his jacket and escorting his wife to their car. "Yes Sir" Seeley replied as he helped Payton into her coat and they headed to his Explorer.

Getting into the car he was silent as he waited for the Col to back out of the driveway where he pulled in behind him. "What are you doing here Seeley?" she asked, all pretense of friendliness gone from her voice.

"Payton pulling Angela into this little revenge show was the wrong move. She has professional people that are paid to watch her doing exactly that, watching her. You don't think you're little stunt is going to raise eyebrows in her circle? She's not a high school kid that you can intimidate Payton, so for your sake I would seriously suggest leaving her out of any more of your immature bullshit." She started to cut him off and he said, "I'm not done. Shut up. If you ever cared for me other than a roll in the sack or someone that could advance your social status, you will shut up and listen right now. I've had it with this, I'm tired of you trying to intimidate Temperance and I'm tired of dealing with all of your headaches. I'm going to ask you two questions and that's it, first one; what do you want Payton?"

Sitting there listening to him tell her not to threaten Angela she realized slightly that she had gone over the line with her. Angela really wasn't in her league, and although she was able to intimidate mousy little high school girls, he was probably right in that sending texts like the one she sent to a celebrity's daughter was not the smartest thing she could do. She did not want to have to explain it to her parents should Angela decide to fight back with her lawyers. "What do I want? That's an interesting question Seeley, the bottom line answer would be; I want my life back. I want my boyfriend back, I want you to take me to the Winter Formal, I want you to take me to prom, I want to graduate and then I want us to go to the U together. It's really not so difficult to understand, at least it shouldn't be. We've talked about this already, you've had your fling, you've tasted what else is out there, and now you need to come back. I'm Payton Perotta, I have a reputation and I'm not going to be one upped by a stupid mousy little sophomore." She finished, looking straight ahead. As far as she was concerned, this was a dumb conversation to keep having over and over, he should have come back to her by now.

Booth listened to her, his blood getting hotter with each thing that she said. She really didn't get it, he thought. This girl is completely delusional. "Since I have no intention of ever coming back to you Payton, the second question is, what is it going to take to get you to leave us alone?"

He completely avoided what she had said to try to get her to tell him what he could do, besides breaking up with the girl he felt he could spend the rest of his life with, to make her stop harassing them.

"That's it Seeley, you break up with her or I'm going to make her break up with you. One way or the other, you and I are going to end up together. I meant what I said, I'll be all too happy to do whatever I can to make that happen, including making sure you 'take care of your responsibility', I haven't even started yet, so it's up to you" she stopped speaking as they pulled into the parking lot of the church. Getting out of the car, he walked around to help her out of the car. "We'll finish this afterwards" he told her as they walked inside.

Mass seemed to last a year rather than the hour and a half it normally was. Even though he was in the Lords house, Seeley couldn't shake the anger that was still coursing through his body. He truly had never hated anyone as much as he hated her. He'd been thinking the whole time what he could do to make this all go away. Oh sure, the easiest solution was to break up with Temperance and do exactly what Payton wanted. He had no other rational ideas; each thought was more ridiculous than the one before it. All he wanted was for Payton to realize it was over and move on. He knew that she was capable of some pretty mean things; he just didn't know how low she would be willing to go to get him back.

After church, he and Payton headed back to the car. They got in and drove to the coffee place around the corner, when they got their drinks, they headed back to the car. Payton slipped a little on a patch of uneven pavement, and instinctively Booth reached out to steady her. The click of the camera was never even heard.

As soon as they were both back in the car, Booth turned to her and said, "Payton, I've moved on. I'm not coming back to you. You need to accept that. No matter what you do, I'm never coming back. I'm going to be with Temperance as long as she wants me. I'm asking you for the last time to leave us alone. I've got nothing to threaten you with, you seem to think you can blackmail me with the abuse from my dad, go ahead, I'm not ashamed of it anymore. Your fairy tale description of our life together is just that, a fairy tale. I'm not in it anymore. There is nothing you can do to me that will make me come back to you. Nothing. Do whatever you think is necessary to me to punish me, I'll handle it. I'm telling you for the last time, leave Temperance alone. She has done nothing to you, she has nothing to do with us and what happened to us, she is completely innocent and you are not going to hurt her anymore. Angela has already made some phone calls to her people, and I'm sure one more to include Temperance on their watch list is in the works, so back off" he put the truck in drive and headed back to her house.

Payton was silent for a long time, she was thinking over what he said and when they got to her driveway she turned to him and said, "I'm sorry Seeley. I'm sorry you just can't see reason. But, you're right; there is no reason for me to continue to act like this. We've had our moment and it's passed and I need to accept that. I won't bother you anymore." She leaned over and kissed his cheek and got out of the car. Walking up the steps to the porch, she turned and waved. Booth was stunned. He couldn't believe that she had acquiesced that easily. Fearing the worst, he waved back sarcastically as her parents were standing behind her on the porch waving as well. Deciding he would just have to be on the alert for her and her coven, he drove home to start the chores he'd neglected all week. Taking out his phone, he was disappointed to see there were no messages or calls. Sipping his coffee as he drove, he hoped that his prayers this morning would be answered and he and Temperance would be left alone…

CHAPTER 40B

Temperance waited until she heard the Sweets leave, looking at the clock, she saw that is was 8AM and she didn't have to be to work until 10:30. She hurried downstairs and went to the tree in the backyard to retrieve her phone. She put the phone in her pocket to warm it up before trying to use it. While the phone was warming up she decided to try and find the jersey and football. Trash wasn't due to go out until Tuesday, so she knew it still had to be somewhere in the house. She searched through all the closets downstairs, in the spare room and in the extra closet upstairs. She was afraid to go into the Sweets bedroom, so she left that room alone. Sitting at the table preparing to call Angela, she thought she'd try the garage to see if there was anything in there. Looking around the minivan, she saw a couple of black garbage bags, tops tied tight. She opened them up and they had some old clothes, books and some towels. Looking in the other bag, she saw the jersey, hoody and football. They must be going to donate this stuff, she thought to herself. Taking her things from the bag, she went upstairs and put them into her school bag.

Temperance decided that her phone was probably okay to use, so she turned it on and when it was powered up she saw that there was a text message. "BL-no matter what you see or hear, I didn't do it, please believe me, and call me when you can-BMOC" wondering if this the text he was so worried about the night before, she checked to see if there was anything else new in the logs. Seeing nothing, she thought about calling Seeley but looking at the clock, he was probably still at church, instead she called Angela.

"Angela?" she asked when the girl came on the phone, "What happened last night?"

"Tempe-have you talked to Booth yet?" Angela sleepily answered her question with one of her own.

"No-I called you first, he's at church. Please Angela; tell me what is going on?"

"Last night Booth and I got texts from Payton and Pansy, no…wait…Daisy? Anyway, as soon as I got it, I called him to see who the hell it was from and he told me he got one too. So we decided to see if you had gotten one too. As it turns out, you didn't, and he and I decided that Payton was just playing more games. You haven't gotten anything have you?"

"No-just a message telling me not to believe what I saw, what was on those texts Angela?" Temperance wasn't sure she really wanted to know, but she felt like she had to at the same time.

"I don't have it anymore, you'll need to ask Booth about that Sweetie, I'm all for defending you, but I'm not going to get in the middle. This is something that you will have work out on your own. Don't get me wrong, I've got your back, but the personal stuff is all you. What time do you have to work today?"

"I've got to be there at 10:30. Angela-was it bad?" she bit her lip as images ran through her mind, not even knowing the content of the text was torture, but so were some of the things she could only imagine that it could be.

"I've got to be there at noon, I'll come in a little early though, we can chat a little more then, but Temper, I'd call Booth as soon as you can, church or not, just let him know that you need him. Guys like to be needed and I have a feeling things may get worse before they get better." She told her goodbye and hung up. Angela sat on the edge of her bed and put her head on her pulled up knees. I wish I could make it easier for you Tempe she thought.

"Sweetheart? You awake?" Her dad's Texan drawl came through the closed door.

"Yeah daddy I am, just talking to Temper" she went to the door and opened it and let her dad come in. She loved her dad and his life and would never ask for him to change it, but there were times, like now, that she wished he was home more often.

"She still having problems at home?" he asked, sitting on her vanity chair.

"Yes and no, she has a boyfriend and he has a psycho hose beast for an ex girlfriend, and I think that she's going to do something really bad, and I'm worried about Tempe, and her foster parents are just nightmares, they won't let her do anything a normal 16 year old kid is allowed to do, so she's essentially trapped in that home except for school and work. It just breaks my heart the way she gets treated, they shouldn't be allowed to put kids with people like that-" her voice broke as she started to softly cry as she outlined just what had gone on there over the past couple of weeks.

Her dad got up and came over to sit by her on the bed, "Don't cry honey, things will work out eventually. You're doing the best thing that you can do by being there for her, she's going to need someone as this all unfolds, and you'll be the one she turns to. I won't let anything happen to her, or you, I promise baby, okay?" he smoothed her bangs back and thumbed her tears, "Now, what do you say you and your old man go grab some grub, some store bought stuff?"

She smiled at him through her tears and hugged him tight. "I'm glad you're here Daddy, I missed you"

"Missed you too Sweetheart" he hugged her back and then left so she could go get dressed.

CHAPTER 40C

Temperance grabbed a muffin and a juice box and headed to the bus stop, she had her bag of Booth's things and she was going to leave it at the museum until she could get it back school. She was going to start storing things in her locker. While she waited for the bus, she called Seeley. "Hey it's Booth-leave a message" his voicemail picked up first ring, she said, "Hi Seeley, it's Tempe, I hope you call or text, I've got to work until 3, but the Sweets will be gone until 7 tonight, so maybe I can see you? Anyway, I hope so, have a good day! Bye"

She hung up as the bus pulled into the stop and she got on, the bus was packed today with early holiday shoppers. Brennan was actually looking forward to the holidays, other than Max and Angela; she hadn't had anyone to buy a gift for in a long time. Wondering what kinds of things she could get for Seeley, she passed the time it took for the bus to trundle downtown to the museum.

Walking into the museum she heard, "Hey Tempe!" turning to look Zack Addy was standing with Russ and Max and he was wearing a museum uniform. "Hi Zack!" She said walking over to the trio, "what are you doing here and why are you wearing that?"

"Stunning isn't it? Navy blue is soo my color!" he kidded with her, "I just got hired, I'll be working here to get some college credits, so guess I'll be seeing a lot of you huh?"

"That's great Zack! It'll be fun to have someone else I know working here, which department will you be in?"

"I'll be working with Max in the science wing, half of my hours go towards a college credit, and the other half go to the final requirement of science for HS graduation-I'm pretty lucky really, there were 4 other people interviewed" he was really quite proud of getting into this program. Max was actually a scientist in high demand and the museum was lucky to have him, if he chose you for his internship, then you really had to be something special.

"Well, congratulations, I'll see you around, I have to get to work myself" she reached up to hug him and she gave a hug to Max as well, "maybe lunch-what time are you done today? I'm done at 3?"

"Lunch it is" he told her, "I'm off at 6, so that will be right around the time I go to lunch, so I'll meet you in the breakroom, that is if I can find it again, this place is huge!"

Russ laughed and said, "You'll find your way pretty soon"

Temperance agreed and then turned to go to the employee break room. Once she was changed into her uniform, she put her phone on silent and looked to see what room she was in. She was going to be cleaning the Pharoah's chamber today. It was one of her favorites, the mummies especially intrigued her. Humming a little she headed up to the second floor to get to work.

At 1:30 she felt her phone start to vibrate. Stopping her cleaning of a sarcophagus, she reached into her pocket to check it out. "BMOC" flashed on the screen.

"Hello?" she answered, both eager and nervous at the same time.

"Hey Babe" he said quietly.

"What's wrong Seeley?" she asked, now quite afraid.

"Nothing Tempe-I'm just glad to hear your voice…just really glad. I was chopping wood when you called and had my ipod on so didn't hear the phone. Are you at work?" he asked her, leaning up against the house.

"Yes, I'm off in a couple of hours, I told Zack I'd have lunch with him since its his first day and then I'm free until 7 or so. The Sweets didn't say anything about me having to come straight home, so I figured I'd be ok. Did you get all the wood chopped for Pops?"

Both of them were deliberately avoiding discussing the events of the prior night. She didn't know how to bring it up and he was afraid to worry her.

"Yeah, I did-so Zack is working there now huh?" he tried but was unable to keep the jealousy out of his voice.

"He was hired by Max to work with the science wing, I really won't see him much, like Angela we're on mostly different schedules" speaking of Angela she began to wonder where she was and why she didn't come up to say hi to her.

"Well, I'd love to do something this afternoon. Have you ever been to Zam's?" he asked her.

"No, what's Zam's?" she asked, trying to think if she'd ever heard of it.

"It's the indoor ice rink next to the mall-would you like to go skating? They rent skates and we can get in for free because I volunteer there during hockey season" he wasn't sure if she even knew how to skate, but since he taught little kids how to skate, he figured he could teach her if she didn't.

"Oh, I've been by there, just never knew the name of it, I'd like that, I haven't been skating since I was five or six years old, so you can't laugh!" she giggled.

"Okay, I won't laugh I promise-and Tempe we'll talk about last night too"

"Okay Seeley, I'll see you around 4?" she asked, "meet me here? Or I can ride the bus?" she still wasn't sure about some of the particulars of boyfriends and girlfriends.

"I think I'll be able to get you kid, see you out front!" he laughed and hung up.

Temperance smiled when she hung up, she was really looking forward to the end of her shift. She texted Angela, "Hi Ange-you here?"

While she waited for her to text back, she started back on the final resting place of a pharaoh.

"I'm here-have to train some dumb new girl, Roxie (stupid name!) will meet you at 3" her return text said. Wow, 3 o'clock is going to be a busy time for you Miss Temperance she thought to herself. Deciding that she wouldn't borrow trouble until there was a reason, she got back to work and looked forward to her lunch date with her new friend, talking to her oldest friend and then meeting up with her boyfriend.

At three she headed downstairs to change. Angela was already in the break room and was in rare form. "What an IDIOT" she told her as she came out of the changing room, "that girl is as dumb as a bag of hammers, I swear. She wouldn't write anything down and kept asking me the same question over and over, we only got through one exhibit before I had to take her to HR for her orientation video" she snorted at the comical expression on Temperance's face.

"Roxie? Skinny girl, blonde bob, big eyes?" she asked her.

"Yeah, that's her, do you know her?"

"She's a cheerleader at St. Agnes, I'm surprised that she would want to work here is all"

Just then Zack walked in and said, "Hello Tempe-whose your friend?" he turned to Angela and waited to be introduced.

"This is Angela Montenegro, she's the head tour guide here and my best friend-Angela this is Zack Addy, he's the QB for Marantha and is going to be an Anthropologist too"

The two of them shook hands and then Zack brought Angela's hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to the back of it, "Enchante" he said, looking up at her, her hand still held slightly under his mouth.

"Can it Junior" she told him taking her hand back, "I'm way out of your league" she winked at Brennan and opened her lunch. Giving half of her sandwich and cookies to Temperance, the three of them started talking about various things. Temperance told Angela and Zack about the Sweets taking Seeley's jersey and stuff and how she hid her hat so they wouldn't take that, and what they told her about free time and not being able to socialize or go to hockey games. She told them about finding the clothes and football in the goodwill donations though and how she was going to take them back to school. Angela was livid and told herself that she was going to pass that along to her dad. Zack was a little shocked at the description of her home life, but wisely kept his mouth shut.

"Do you have to work on Wednesday?" Angela asked Tempe.

"No, why?" she asked scraping off the mustard from her side of the sandwich.

"Because we are going to go dress shopping" she told her.

"I just told you I can't go to the dance Angela, what do I need a dress for?"

"If we can get you to the high school football game, we can get you to a dance Temper-We're going dress shopping, so add a "shift" to your schedule. I'll meet you here after school." Her tone was final.

Smiling at the determination on her friends face, Tempe said, "okay Ange-I will" looking at her watch she said, "I've got to go, Seeley will be out front in a minute or so, Zack I hope you have a good rest of the day, and I'll see you around" she bent down to hug Angela and thanked her for the sandwich. She hung up her uniform, grabbed her things and headed outside to meet him for the rest of the afternoon, her heart was light and her smile was bright as she saw his car in the parking lot. When he saw that she had seen him he got out of the truck and stood by the passenger door. She ran towards him and jumped into his arms, dropping her things as he grabbed her in a hug. "What was that for?" he asked.

Smiling, she kissed his nose then his lips softly and said, "Do I need a reason?"

He set her down lightly on her feet and leaned in to deepen the kiss, "I guess not babe, I guess not"…

CHAPTER 41

Tempe watched Booth walk around the front of the Explorer, and then stop to look at his phone. While he read the text, she was admiring his profile. She'd never seen him looking so…so grown up. He was wearing dark brown work boots and dark, slightly tight jeans, a red and black checked hooded flannel open at the collar where a white t-shirt peeked out, and a caramel colored Carhart coat. He had a pair of yellow leather work gloves tucked into his back pocket and was wearing a St. Agnes Panthers baseball cap. His hair was a just long enough to curl slightly over his collar, and he had a slight beard stubble. She felt heat start at her pelvis and rush up her body to her cheeks. She'd never taken his incredible features for granted, even when she was just a freshman he'd been the hottest guy at school, but today she was really seeing just how attractive he was. He was physically mature from the long hours of practice, but also he took care of himself and it showed. Booth had sent a reply to the text and turned to come to the driver's side, seeing her staring at him with heat in her eyes he winked and gave her a twisted grin. She felt that incredible glow again and looked down, willing the blush off of her cheeks.

"What's wrong little one?" he teased when he got in. He recognized a hot flash when he saw one, hell he fought them off all the time around her.

"Noth..nothing" she said biting her lip and looking up at him, "I was just thinking…well, wondering..um…nothing!"

Booth laughed at her and put the truck into drive, pulling out of the parking lot he said, "That was Pops, he asked that I grab some milk on the way home from Zams, don't let me forget ok? That should take your mind off 'nothing'" he told her.

"Okay, milk got it!"

Tempe turned to him and said, "So, what happened last night Seeley?-is everything okay?" she normally wouldn't have started this conversation off, but she felt she needed to start taking some control of things and she was tired of being afraid of Payton and her friends.

"Payton sent a text to me and Angela and it was incredibly crude and was a complete fake and I was afraid she sent it to you and I had to know that you knew I could never do something like that. I had to know that you weren't sitting there wondering what kind of a $$hole you were dating was. Angela was hot, she wanted to kick my $$ and then have one of her goons kick it again. We decided to make sure you were okay together. This morning I went to church with the Perotta's and told Payton to leave us alone. At first she resisted, and then when I dropped her off, she told me she would leave us alone. I think she's full of it, but we'll see." He stopped, wondering what line of questioning she was going to pursue. He'd left nothing out but the image itself, he told her about church because he was trying to be as honest as he could without giving her all the gritty details of his many discussions with Payton. He had nothing to hide, but still felt he needed to protect her.

"Oh" was all she said.

He tensed and waited patiently to see if she was going to say anything else when she slightly hiccupped and he looked over to see her wiping her eyes and looking out of the side window. Booth looked behind him in the rear view mirror and checked traffic before pulling into a little strip mall parking lot. He put the truck in park and unbuckled his seatbelt.

He leaned over and said, "Don't cry Tempe, it's going to be okay, she said she was going to leave us alone and I really think she will, don't be upset, please?" he tried to get her to look at him, but she was stubbornly resisting him. Booth got out of the truck and walked over to her side and opened the door.  
"Look at me Tempe" he said and turned her face towards his. "Talk to me, please?" his voice was soft but firm, he wanted to get this out now before it came back to haunt them.

"I don't understand why she is trying so hard to break us up. She's never liked me, the first day of school she stepped on my lunch when I got off the bus, she's made fun of my jacket, hair and anything else that is out of the norm since then. Any chance she gets she just attacks me. I don't have any friends at school to begin with and she just makes it harder to talk to people; when they find out that you are the main target in Payton's sights they tend to ignore you too," she stopped and hiccupped again and his heart broke at the look on her face, "I just try to stay out of her way, and what happens? I end up falling in love with her boyfriend! Of course, it just couldn't be easy and be some ordinary guy, no it has to be the guy that every girl in school is dying to go out with and every guy in school wants to be, and is he a jerk? NO, he's actually a nice guy, has a wonderful family, is thoughtful, smart, funny, considerate and not that I have anything to judge it against kisses so good that my body turns to jelly every time his lips touch me. All I want to do when that happens is find out what the big deal about sex is and that scares the hell out of me, but on the other hand, what do I know about it? I'm so unbelievably uncomfortable around him all the time that it's a wonder I don't snap like an old rubber band." She took a deep breath and took his hands, tracing the veins on them with her fingers; she plunged on, "I trust you Seeley, I do, but I don't know how much more of this I can take. I'm not this person, I'm not confrontational, I can't keep getting hurt-I'm afraid that there isn't much of me left to hurt-I don't want you to be constantly picking me up off the ground, eventually you are going to decide that all the pain and frustration isn't worth it and you'll leave too, and I wouldn't blame you. In fact, I don't know why you are still here; maybe it would be easier if we just called this whole thing off. I can't fight anymore, I've been fighting for so long that I have next to nothing left" her voice dropped to a whisper as she stopped talking, still looking down his skin burned when her tear fell on their joined hands.

"Tempe-listen to me, I'm only going to say this once. Stop acting like you aren't good enough for me. I've never met anyone that makes me feel like you do, I think of you all day and all night. You drive me crazy, I touch your skin and it's like silk, you touch me and I physically feel a burn at that spot. I spend half my time around you hoping you don't see how you affect me" he took her hand and put it where the bulge in his jeans was tight against the zipper, hissing when she didn't remove her hand after he let go, his voice was tight when he continued, "the other half of the time I'm reciting hockey stats or saints in my head to try to not get a hard on, I see you in the halls and the world stops moving, I hear your laugh and it's the only sound I hear." She was reluctant to remove her hand, and in fact had lightly started to explore with her finger the ridge under the zipper. He took her hand and put it into her lap and held her other one, "Sorry, it's hard to concentrate while you're doing that" he gasped, "I don't want to call this off, I can't. I have to know what happens next. I don't care that you don't have any experience, part of being with a person is learning what they like and don't together, I want to learn what makes you happy or sad or mad or bored, I want to learn with you. Payton isn't even a blip on my radar anymore, the only time I even think of her is when she does something stupid and mean to you. You don't need to change for me, you don't need to become a person that you aren't, I love you the way you are. I like taking care of you; I want to spend however long you will let me making you happy. I think you are smart, your funny and your incredibly sweet, I love Angela and Max, and I'm glad that you have them in your life. I'm even a little glad you have a friend in Zack, although I wish he had a third eye or something, don't worry about friends at school, I want you to meet Wendell and Colin, they're my best friends and they've always been there for me. It doesn't matter that they're girlfriends are Paytons little minions, we don't have to double date or anything. I want you to be happy is the bottom line Tempe, happy alone, happy with me, just happy. You want to take karate to kick her $$? Fine, I'll take you; I'll join you, whatever you want is what I will do. I can't walk away, but if that is what you want, I'll do it."

When he stopped speaking both of them just sat there silently for a moment, then she looked up at him and traced his lips with her index finger, she inched her hand around behind his neck and pulled his face close to hers. She pressed her lips against his and slowly slid her tongue into his mouth, meeting his, she deepened the kiss, his hands went to her hips and she was slightly surprised to realize that his hand span was larger than her entire waistline. He dug his thumbs into the bend of her waist and slid his fingers under her butt and pulled her closer to him. Raising his left hand up her side to her rib cage, she stopped kissing him briefly when his slightly cool hand slid under her shirt, stopping just under the bottom of her bra; he lightly traced the outline of the lace with his thumb. She pressed herself against his hand, encouraging him to continue his gentle exploration. He moved his hand up and softly cupped her breast, his hand was cool, but warming up rapidly. Temperance moaned slightly and he pulled her closer as his mouth left hers and moved to her neck, she leaned her head back which arched her into his hand even more. Booth felt her hand come back down to the zipper of his jeans and she slowly pulled it down. The friction of the zipper against the hard bulge made him gasp out loud. Recapturing her mouth with his, he tensed and froze when her hand slipped into his fly. Ever so slowly she softly circled her fingers around his hard length.

Booth broke the kiss and stepped back, his eyes were molten chocolate and his breathing was harsh. "We can't do this Tempe, not here, not now" he zipped his jeans back up as she attempted to calm her own breathing. "I'm sorry" she told him, her face awash with color and her eyes shining like diamonds. "There's nothing to be sorry for" he told her, " I just don't think this is the best place or time for this-beside, I told you, I'm not going to rush you and I don't want you to do this just because you think I want you to."

"That's not why I did it," she said, "I heard what you were saying and I believe you and I realized that I can't walk away either and it just felt right. When I'm ready, I want you to be the one that I learn from Seeley. I'm willing to meet Wendell and Colin, and I'm willing to try to be friends with them, I'm new at all of this, so I'm afraid I come across as a cold fish, but I'm willing to try. I'm going to stop being afraid of Payton too. I've done nothing wrong, you were broke up when you enrolled me in your 'dork outreach program', and so she can't be mad. You broke up with her, I didn't do anything. For now, let's just enjoy the rest of the day and we can work through each roadblock she throws up ok?"

He leaned in and hugged her tight. "Okay Bone Lady"

"One last thing though" she said, "What was the text of? I've got all these images in my head, each one worse than the last and I have to know. I don't want to know, I just have to get it right in my mind"

He said, "Are you sure? I don't want you to change your mind after you see it"

"I won't, just show me" she prepared herself for the absolute worst and waited for him to show her his phone.

Seeley sighed and pulled his phone out, he scrolled through the messages and opened it up, and handing the phone to her he dreaded her reaction.

"Where was this taken?" she asked.

"At the party after the game on Friday, we went to Macks house and somewhere along the way my drink was spiked with something, Bray and Fischer told me that I was pretty out of it, and yesterday I had a raging headache, I don't remember much of anything, but they told me I wasn't alone for a good portion of the time I was there, so they don't know when this could have been taken. Fischer thinks when Wendell went to get my truck to take me home she must have come up to me. I really don't remember it, and I didn't do anything on purpose, near as we can guess I was mostly passed out at that point anyway, so its' all staged" he wasn't sure if he should keep going or not, he just really wanted her to understand that he did not initiate any of it.

"Well, I'm glad I saw it I guess. I really don't like that girl" she said, handing him the phone back, and taking a deep breath, "it's in the past though, let's go to Zams, ok?"

Smiling at her response, he said, "okay, let's go, and I really don't like her either!"

Booth got back into the driver's seat and took them to the ice rink. Once they were there, he helped her get some skates and they went out onto the ice. There was a peewee practice going on at one end, but free skate on the other. The net was strung across the middle to prevent any wayward pucks from interrupting the skaters on the ice. Temperance was pleasantly surprised that she remembered how to skate; it had been over 10 years since the last time she was on the ice. Although slightly unsteady, she was doing very well and she and Booth were able to talk while they skated. She told him about the conversation with the Sweets, and when she could see he was upset she told him that Angela was going to 'break her out' again and so she was sure she'd be at the dance. She told him too, that she would do whatever she could to make sure she made a couple of his hockey games. Asking him about the SC football game, he told her that they would be leaving Friday morning at 6AM and would be coming home after the game. She wished that she could go, but driving across the state was not going to be feasible. He told her that it was okay, he wouldn't be able to socialize anyway, Hodgins was pretty tight when the team got to this point in the year. He told her that he'd call her when he got there and then when he woke up on Saturday. It was all a week away, but already he was getting nervous. It was a big game and he was a major play maker. She told him just to do his best and they'd be fine.

"What are you doing for Thanksgiving?" he asked. "I'm going with Rebecca and Lance to her parent's house for the day, we'll eat and they'll stand around and tell me how lucky I am that they took me in and I'll feel grateful and then it'll be over. I'm sure it will go like that anyway, it did last year. On Friday Rebecca and her sister will go shopping, Lance will go to the office and I'll be at the house, last year I went to the library for the day, but this year it's closed so they can do some electrical work over the weekend"

"Any chance they'll let you do something on Friday" he asked thinking they could do something, "Maybe if Angela or Max invited you?"

"Not Angela certainly, but maybe if Max invited me I could do something, it's worth a shot" she said watching as he adeptly skated backwards in front of her. Looking at the clock on the wall above the entrance, she saw that it was close to 6:30; they'd been skating for over an hour and a half and hadn't run out of things to say to each other.

"I hate to say this Seeley, but I've got to go, I don't want the Sweets to see you drop me off, and they mentioned they'd be home around 7" He reluctantly agreed and they took her skates back as he took his off and put them back in his hockey bag. Walking her to the truck he thanked her for a good day, after the way it had started off he was really afraid of how it was going to end.

"You're welcome and thank you back" she smiled up at him and jumped into the truck. He drove her home and both were relieved to see no lights on, even though it was after dark. She leaned across the console and kissed his cheek, "see you at school" she said.

"I can pick you up if you want" he told her

"Okay-I'll meet you here at 7ish or so-and don't forget the milk!"

Getting out of the truck she hurried into the house and Booth took off to go get the milk that his Pops had asked for.

CHAPTER 42

When Seeley got home he heard Jared and Howard in the front room battling out a boxing game on the WII and Pops was in the kitchen making dinner. "Grilled cheese is almost done Shrimp, did you get the milk?" he said as Seeley walked in.

"Yeah Pops, I got it-sounds good, let me change and I'll be right down for dinner" Seeley went upstairs and his phone chirped. Checking the message it said, "Radio BMOC?" smiling slightly, he hung up his jacket and took off his boots. Turning on the radio, he heard the tail end of a Fray song and then the DJ spoke, "GORDON GORDON IS UP ALL NIGHT, SO ALL YOU LADIES AND GENTS WANTING TO SHARE THE AIRWAVES, START DIALING…" There was a commercial and as he took off the flannel and put on his Flyers hockey sweats he heard, "GOING OUT ON A LIMB TONIGHT IS THE BONE LADY…BMOC I HOPE YOUR LISTENING!"

The familiar guitar riff of Foreigners Hot Blooded began pounding out of the speakers and he grinned, she was really in a mood tonight. Deciding he'd let like to add to the tension of their afternoon tryst in the truck he called the radio station and requested a complimentary song of his own. He loved that they were able to talk without talking at all he told Gordon Gordon to play a song by John Mayer.

"We got the afternoon you got this room for two one thing I've left to do discover me discovering you one mile to every inch of your skin like porcelain one pair of candy lips and your bubblegum tongue 'cause if you want love we'll make it swimming a deep sea of blankets take all your big plans and break 'em this is bound to be a while your body Is a wonderland your body is a wonder (I'll use my hands) your body Is a wonderland "

While the song started to play a slow smile played at his lips as he imagined how she would interpret the lyrics, he took out the one picture he had of her and looked at it. Thinking that he was an idiot for not getting a picture of her on his phone, he decided to take care of that tomorrow first thing. He headed downstairs for dinner and as he got to the bottom of the stairs his phone chirped again.

"Ugh..please save me from this teenage romance~Angel~"

Laughing out loud he put his phone back into his pocket and started setting the table and helping Pops get the rest of dinner ready, "Hey Jarhead" he yelled, "pause your game and come in here, dinners done"

Jared and Howard came in and began to fix their plates. Although Jared and Howard had been friends for years, Booth never really liked the kid. A slightly mousy kid he was creepy and always seemed like he was planning something. He lived alone with his mom and Booth figured he was going to be the kid that everyone said was just a quiet kid and never got in trouble, right before he did. "Howard" he said, nodding to him, "you here for the night?"

Howard knew Seeley didn't like him and so tried to avoid Jared's brother as often as he could, "yeah Booth-me and Jared are going to Zam's after dinner to play some, wanna come?" he was always trying to get Booth onto the ice, believing himself a better hockey player, but so far he'd never agreed.

"Nah, not tonight, think tonight I'll just watch some TV, you two go and have fun though, I checked the schedule and there is figure skating at the rink, you might get lucky" he winked at Pops and smiled around a big bite of sandwich. Jared blushed as usual, he was only in eighth grade and although his brother was a legendary ladies magnet, he was still trying to find his way in those waters.

"Michele Saroyan is going to be there tonight, so maybe Jared will actually get the chance to talk to her" Howard said making his friend choke on his drink. "Shut up man, I don't like Michelle" Jared said when he was able to stop coughing.

Pops said, "Seeley, leave the boys alone, it wasn't that long ago that you were begging to hang out at Zam's to meet girls yourself" he smiled indulgently at the boys. "Shrimp, can you pick them up if I give them a ride there, around 9 or so?"

"Sure Pops, no problem I can take them too if you need me too?" he said, reaching for his third sandwich. "That's okay, I told them I'd take them, it'll just be late when they come home and I'd prefer that you get them, it's a little too cold out there for an old man like me"

"Pops, you're not old, you're mature" Booth told his grandfather with affection…

Temperance was listening to the song that Booth chose to rise to her challenge and she was enjoying it the double meaning very much. Wishing that he was there with her she sighed and began to work on her homework again. The Sweets had come home shortly after 7:30 and after the ritualistic interrogation of her day she was able to escape upstairs. Rebecca had grumbled at the shifts that Brennan was scheduled for this week, but wasn't able to dampen her spirits any. Especially since her Wednesday 'shift' was going to be a shopping excursion with Angela. Temperance wasn't really sure what kind of dress to get, but she knew that Angela wouldn't steer her wrong. While she was working on deciphering her French worksheet her phone vibrated in her pocket.

"Please stop w/the lovey dovey songs…some of us are gagging here-love you ~ANGEL~"

Giggling at her friend, Tempe was once again diving into the worksheet when her phone vibrated again,

"It really is wonderful…too bad I'm not there now…would be 'tempting' to see how long you could hold out…I'm really quite persuasive-BMOC"

Tempe could feel the blush creeping up her cheeks. Geez she thought, I really need to grow up a little, he sends me a text that is perfectly innocent and I've got him in handcuffs and boxer shorts. Shaking her head at herself, she thought of earlier and what she had actually done. I wouldn't know what to do next anyway she chided herself, maybe I could ask Angela? Deciding that she would never be that desperate, she texted back, "I'm pretty stubborn, bet you would be the one that loses focus first-BL" she thought that it was an appropriately aggressive suggestion and hopefully he would see the humor in it.

She waited to get a return text and wasn't dissatisfied when he came back with, "is that a legit challenge little one?"

"Maybe-let's see what you can do" she texted back as soon as she read through what he sent.

"Baby-you better be ready, there's a whole lot that I can do, today was nothing compared to when I really get going-you'd better pack a lunch, you'll be busy all day long"

Temperance wasn't sure how far she was willing to go with this, it seemed as if she was walking a thin line, she wasn't a very good flirt to begin with, and she definitely didn't know how to do this very well, it seemed like innocent fun but the feelings she was getting from just the little texting they'd done already was enough to make her ache with an unfulfilled need. She knew in her heart of hearts that she was too young to take that last step, but she was sure willing to chance it. Trying to reduce the flaming in her cheeks by thinking of the periodic table of elements, she texted back, "lucky for you I'm not hungry!"

She went to her bathroom to change into her pajamas and brush her teeth, now that her homework was done, the Sweets had gone to their room a little while ago, but the light was still on under their bedroom door so she knew they were still awake. "I am pretty lucky I guess…gtg babe, have to get Jared from Zam's sleep well and we'll see you in the AM. Oh-that little hollow at the base of your neck is the sweetest spot I've ever tasted…can't wait to taste again-BMOC"

The zing of electricity that shot through her body threatened to take her breath away. He was way better at this than she was. Not knowing how to respond without sounding like a complete idiot, she replied, "Sleep well yourself, nice boxers btw~BL"

"LOL-Love You!" was his reply and she told him "ditto" before plugging the phone into the charger that she'd hidden under her bed. Turning off the light she laid down and turned to her side. Thinking of him she fell asleep, a slight smile on her face as she dreamed of what might be.

Booth got his jacket on when the "ditto" came across and laughed, he headed out to the truck and there was an envelope stuck to the windshield. He ripped it open and his breath caught in his throat when he saw the picture of the two of them in the parking lot this afternoon. Looking around he didn't see any cars that he didn't recognize and there were no people walking around. Crumpling up the picture he saw that there was writing on the back, "are you wondering how many copies of this were made?"

CHAPTER 43

Booth woke up early and got ready for school; he woke the younger boys up and made sure they were lined out before he left. All night long he'd been tossing and turning, barely sleeping at all. When the time was close enough he went to go get Temperance.

She was waiting at the bus stop, standing slightly away from the other kids that had gathered. Mostly underclassmen, but one or two juniors were all waiting for the yellow bus. Seeing the Explorer, she moved further away and waited for him to pull in. She heard the whispers; she knew that they all talked behind her back. It hurt, but she was working to get past that. Today was a new day; she wasn't going to let things affect her so much. Ever since her parents and brother had disappeared, she'd been withdrawing back into herself a little more each day. Meeting Angela, Max and Seeley she'd been forced to come back out and face things as head on as she could. She got into the truck when he stopped and smiled brightly at him.

"Good morning! How'd you sleep?" she asked happily.

"Not good to be honest" he replied with a yawn, thinking she had something to do with that she got a little rush of pride until he said, "Someone, Payton or one of her little friends is out to get us-I found a picture on my car last night when I went to get the boys from Zams-I'm not sure who took it, or who put it on my truck but whoever it is, they were following one of us yesterday-maybe both." He took the crumpled picture out of his pocket and handed it to her. Seeing it her hands began to shake and she looked at him with wide eyes. "What is going on Seeley? Why us?"

"I don't know Bone Lady, but I'll get to the bottom of it, my gut tells me it's Payton. I knew she was mad, I didn't know she was crazy."

Temperance wondered if his gut was going to be the only thing getting them through this when she decided she would just do a little interrogating on her own. She had separate classes with each one of Payton's' tightest group, including Biology with all three of them. She'd had enough. Tearing the picture up, she tucked it into her jacket pocket to throw away when she got to the school. When they arrived, he walked her to her locker and stood there while she got her things ready for her first two classes. She gave Booth a hug and wished that she could take the little bulldog home, but no doubt he'd end up in a goodwill bag too. She hung her bag on the hook in her locker when a picture floated down to the ground, they both reached to grab it, but she was a little closer. It was a picture of her and Zack and Max standing by the entrance to the museum, she was on her tip toes, hugging him; his hands were lower on her back than she remembered. It looked like he was grabbing her butt as she hugged him. Funny that she didn't even notice that when she did hug him.

Seeley took the picture from her and looked at it then back at her. He could see from the time date stamp that it was taken yesterday. She saw the slightly jealous look in his eye and then he hid his expression, "it was an innocent hug Seeley-I was excited to see someone else I know working there, I didn't know he grabbed my butt, this jacket isn't exactly form fitting-I'm sorry"

"Don't be sorry Tempe, you didn't do anything, and I'm glad you have a friend there, remember? I just want to break his hands, well anyone's hands that are that close to your butt! I'll just remind him next time I see him to keep his hands to himself, or he'll be filling beakers w/his lips." He growled out the last bit and Tempe laughed. "We're not going to let these pictures get to us right?"

"That's right little one, they're just random shots and since they're all innocent anyway, there is nothing to get upset about" He took her hand and they walked to their respective classes, he had a meeting with Dr. Saroyan after first block so he could get some college information. He'd been putting it off and coach Hodgins had emailed Pops, deciding that he had to talk to her at some point; he'd made the appointment via the virtual calendar last night. Booth pecked Tempe on the cheek as they headed off to class. He was thinking of the pictures, school and when it would all end. She was thinking of how she was going to confront Caroline in her second block, Advanced Physics.

The AP Physics class was filling up slowly when Temperance got in there, going to her seat, she sat and then turned to watch Caroline's seat. When the girl came in and saw Temperance staring at her, she sneered and flipped her off. Turning slowly, Tempe faced the front of the class. Her hands shaking, and her chest tight with the thought of conflict, she tried to focus on the teacher and ignore the hatred being burned into the back of her head the whole class. Taking comfort in the fact that she most likely wouldn't get physical in front of the rest of the students and teacher, Temperance was going to confront Caroline after class. Hoping she was doing the right thing, she began to watch the clock and count down the minutes.

When class was over, Temperance left her things on her desk and marched right back to where Caroline was packing up her own things. "Leave us alone" she said quietly, trying to look her in the face, but feeling the flush on her cheeks, she was looking more at her collar.

"What Princess? I didn't hear you?" Caroline said loudly and sarcastically.

Feeling a surge of power, Temperance looked her straight in the eye and stepped up to her a little closer, balling her fists she said louder, "I said, leave us alone-we're tired of you guys trying to get between us, tell Payton and Daisy to leave us alone too" she finished strongly, suddenly aware that the entire class had stopped to watch. Caroline also could feel the eyes of the other kids on her, and she dearly loved an audience. Putting down her things she stepped in closer to the shorter girl and looking down said with deadly calm, "you messed with the wrong girl, Payton isn't going to stop until she gets what is hers-and none of us are afraid of you, you little mouse. I'd stop thinking you're all that if I were you and do what is best for your pretty little face and let Booth go." By the time she was done talking, they were face to face and the people closest to them were getting worried that blows were next.

"I'm not afraid of you or your friends Caroline either and neither is Booth-just leave us alone-I'm not going to tell you again" and she stepped even closer to her. At that moment Wendell walked by and saw the crowd gathered in the class, he stepped to the back to see what was going on and realized his girlfriend and Booth's were about to start throwing punches. He scooted through the crowd and stepped up right behind Caroline as she reared back to start the action. Grabbing her hand he said, "Okay everyone, shows over, go to class"

Caroline turned to him, her eyes full of hate and anger. "Let me go, she threatened me!"

"I did not!" Temperance yelled, "I told you I wasn't afraid of you and to leave us alone-and I'm not and you better!" With the crowd dispersing and the teacher coming over, she was reluctant to stay there herself, but didn't want Wendell or Booth to hear a skewed version of what happened.

"Temperance, go to class, I'll deal with Caroline" Wendell told her as he grabbed Caroline's bag and pulled her out of the classroom.

"Is everything okay here Temperance?" the teacher asked.

"Yes Ma'am, everything is fine, just a misunderstanding" she told her and went to get her things.

Wendell and Caroline went out into the hall, pulling her into an empty classroom, he turned on her eyes blazing, "What are you doing Caroline, this isn't your fight, it has nothing to do with you! Why are you and Payton and Daisy so bent on messing with them?"

"It's not right what she did, Seeley and Payton have been together for 4 years and then she comes along and it's all over? She's messing with all of our plans, yours and mine and Fischer and Caroline, all of us. It's not supposed to be like this, we always hung out as a group, we're friends and now, Payton is with Mack and he's an idiot and Booth is off with little miss sophomore of the month, it's crap!"

"First off, nobody promised anyone forever, Payton has been cheating on him since 9th grade, what do you expect? He's a good guy; he's not going to hang around someone that does that on purpose. Secondly, it's not your fight, this has nothing at all to do with you or me or Fischer or Daisy, and this is all Payton and _her_ crap. You think because you guys have been friends since kindergarten that you have to do this and you don't, you can walk away; it's not your fight. People change and she doesn't need any help being a b!tch. I don't like you like this Caroline, I really don't. If you don't watch it, you're going to be looking for someone else yourself. Think about it. Booth is my friend, and I'll do whatever I can to make sure that Payton doesn't hurt him or Temperance, she's a nice girl. She's done nothing wrong. Booth picked her, she didn't pick him. She didn't even want to talk to him at first, and she's right, leave them alone, or you may find yourself in a situation you can't get out of, and as much as I love you I won't be there to help you. You're doing all of this on your own"

When he was done speaking to her Caroline looked up and he saw the cold fury in her eyes, "Well, aren't you all high and mighty now, it's interesting how when all of this first started going down you both said you would help us 'play a prank' on Booth. Now, all of a sudden you're backing down and so is Fischer. Payton is my best friend and I'll help her get her man back at any cost, since he's your best friend, you should do the same. Oh, and don't think for an instant that I couldn't find someone else-you weren't anything until you and I got together Wendell Bray, remember that!" she spat the last bit at him and stalked out of the classroom.

Standing there Wendell thought to himself there were going to be a whole lot of shake ups here pretty soon. He loved Caroline, she used to be sweet, thoughtful and was very willing to experiment, but lately she'd turned into a vicious shrew and he didn't know how much more he was willing to take. He decided to try to talk to Booth today about what he and Fischer already knew regarding Paytons plan. It was time to go on the defensive concerning this little 'prank'.

CHAPTER 44

Finding Booth was next to impossible, he went to the senior hallway and he wasn't at this locker, Caroline was, she and Payton were talking, heads bent close together. As he passed them, he wasn't sure what he expected, but going towards the end of the hallway, he didn't expect to hear, "BRAY!"

Turning at her yell, he was shocked when his old hockey jersey hit him in the chest and she had removed the bracelet he gave her last Christmas and threw it at him too. "Guess you have your answer huh Wendell?" was all she said as she and Payton walked away. Her eyes were red rimmed and bright with tears, but Payton's expression was smug. "Ta Ta Wendell" she trilled waving her fingers at him as they left. Picking up the broken bracelet and jersey, he continued on to his locker.

"Man! What is going on?" Fischer came up to him outside his locker and said, "I heard that Caroline and Temperance got into it, Hester just told me that you and Caroline broke up, or at least that's what it looked like, she and Payton just left, what the hell?"

Wendell looked at Fischer and said, "Sometimes you have to do what's right, and what Payton is doing isn't right. Caroline thinks she's helping to defend her honor and I think she's being ridiculous. Guess the trip to McCandless is going to be a lot less fun now, huh?" he tried to sound like he didn't care, but he did. He already missed that feeling of being part of something, even though she wasn't the same girl he had fallen for, he never expected this to happen.

"I'm sorry Bray, hey Roxie's free?" Wendell punched Fischer on the arm and walked away, "What? Too soon?" shaking his head, he stowed his books and went to find Daisy, she would be out of class in about 15 minutes. Juniors were on altogether different schedule than the rest of the school. Heading to Home Ec, he was wondering what was going on when he saw Temperance walking in the opposite direction. He moved over to the side of the hall just to watch her and wonder what Booth saw in her. She was cute, nice body, obviously smart but other than that he just didn't get it. She seemed so timid and Payton, wow, Payton was a firecracker with a short fuse. Mack had told him some things and he thought that Booth was really trading down.

"That's her, right there w/the green bag, that's the girl that got into with Caroline. She's also dating Seeley Booth!" he heard a girl say to her friend.

"Well, she must be really good for him to ditch Payton-I bet she's a lot less timid in the backseat of cars! All this time we thought she was a dork, bet he wasn't the first one, if you know what I mean!"

The two of them burst out laughing and walked away. Fischer felt awful. He knew for a fact that she wasn't like that at all, and yet that's the rep that she had. Hurrying to catch up to her, he said, "Hey Temperance, Tempe! Wait!" she turned at the unfamiliar voice. Seeing that it was Colin Fischer, she stopped, "Yes?"

"Where you going? Want me to walk with you?" he asked, momentarily forgetting about Daisy.

"Did Booth put you up to this?" She asked warily. "I'm just going to meet him now, he didn't say anything to me about getting an escort"

"No, just thought I'd ask, I was heading the same way and I heard that Caroline and you almost got into it today and I thought you might need a friend or something" he smiled at her and continued, "I mean, I'm Booth's friend and you're his girlfriend, so doesn't that make us like friends-in-law or something?"

"Okay-I guess so" she said, turning to continue back down the hall. She was confused, both Wendell and Colin had approached her today and that had certainly never happened before. She was a little apprehensive walking down the hall with him, but like with Seeley, the hallways mysteriously cleared when he walked down them. The small spiteful part of her decided that it could get used to this kind of treatment, shaking her head to stop those kinds of thoughts, they walked to the guidance center to wait for Seeley. He didn't disappoint, he came out about 10 minutes later holding brochures and pamphlets and text books. "Man, I didn't know how much crap there was to deal with in choosing your major!" He smiled at them both standing there. Wondering what he was talking about considering as far as she knew he was going into the Army after graduation, she just smiled back.

"Well, Sir Seeley, I've delivered the fair maiden, and now I'm off to secure my own wench, I bid thee farewell" Fischer said, bowing low and winking at Tempe. He turned to go singing the Oscar Mayer weiner song as he ambled down the hallway back towards Daisy's class.

Opening her eyes wide Temperance turned to Booth and said, "did you ask him to escort me?"

"Nope-but it was nice of him to do so, don'tcha think?" he said, offering her his arm as they left.

"You hungry? We could go to the diner?"

"Yeah-that sounds good, let me carry some of those would you?" She reached over to grab some brochures from him. "It looks like you have something from every possible major available here" she said flipping through them, "I thought you were going into the Army?"

"I am, but I have to have something to fall back on when I get out, I thought maybe a pastry chef?" she looked up in surprise just to see he had a grin on his face.

Shaking her head at him the two of them headed out to his truck. Stowing their things in the back seat Temperance said, "Can we come back a little bit before lunch is over, I need to go to the student store"

"Whatcha need kid?" He asked her.

"I'm going to buy myself some slacks, it's freezing and these skirts are too short. I don't care what Rebecca says, I can't have blue legs and if I get any taller I think these skirts will be illegal. Turning to look at her rear end, he said, "I don't mind, in fact if you get them a little shorter that would be great for me!" he grabbed her around her waist and hugged her close to his front. "Pervert" she giggled.

"Pervert?!" he said, "I'll show you pervert" and he picked her up and put her in the passenger side of his truck, his mouth crushing hers, one hand buried in her hair, the other one under her butt.

She was laughing and kissing him back and trying to talk, "Seeley stop it! Stop! Not so hard!" he finally stopped and she tried to catch her breath and rearrange her skirt. "Remember what happened the last time you tried that?" she asked him all breathless and innocent.

"Girlie, you are too much" he muttered as he came around to get in to the truck. He drove them to the diner.

This time, the pictures came with audio, and he knew exactly how he was going to arrange that sound bite. He knew that Payton was going to pay for it, so wasn't worried about the time it would take, so far this was the best project he'd worked on in months.

CHAPTER 45

Tempe told Booth that she would see him at practice after school, Angela was bringing her the bag of things she'd rescued from the garage on her way to work and she was going to stow them in her locker. She didn't have to work tonight so she was going to stay at school until the late bus went home. Her plan was to work on her homework in the bleachers while he practiced. She just wanted to spend whatever amount of time that she could with him. When they got back from the diner she went straight to biology and got her book out while she waited for the rest of the classroom to fill.

Payton & the rest of her crew came in and sat in their usual spots at the front of the room, and turned to face Tempe. She could feel someone looking at her, so she turned to the front of the room. Meeting their gaze head on, Tempe didn't even flinch when they kept staring at her. She was gripping her book tightly but refused to look away, even after the teacher asked everyone to settle down; she still refused to tear her eyes from Paytons. The teacher asked Payton to turn around and she did so reluctantly. The rest of the class was also watching the silent exchange, most of them had already heard about her and Caroline this morning, and were wondering if they were going to get a repeat performance.

Glad that there was no confrontation forthcoming, Temperance settled into listen to the teacher drone on and on about the life cycle of plants. Most of which she already knew from 7th grade biology, it amused her that they felt it necessary to repeat that information in an AP Biology class. Wishing she was able to go to a more progressive school, she zoned in and out for the rest of the lecture. When the inevitable rustling of books and bags and papers began Tempe mentally came back to the class and began to gather her things as well. The bell rang and she stood and began to leave. However, the bottleneck at the door stopped her and gave Payton the perfect opportunity to ambush her. "Hi Tempe-did you enjoy screwing my boyfriend at lunch?"

Tempe's face instantly flared red but she stood her ground, "What?" she asked, her voice barely trembling.

Payton pushed the play button on a handheld recorder and the entire class heard the opening to their conversation as they got into the truck at lunch. Except, this time it wasn't as innocent sounding as it was in the truck, it sounded as if she was fighting him off…that way. The room gasped collectively, not only did it sound like they were in fact engaging in some rough stuff, it also implied that Booth wasn't the gentleman that he had always seemed. "You know that's not true Payton, so just stop it, and you know what" she suddenly got a huge burst of courage, "even if it was, he's my boyfriend and not yours, so I really don't see how it is any of your business!"

Moving as one entity the crowd had maneuvered them into the hallway. One of the underclassmen from the same biology class had run off to find someone, anyone that could stop the worst from happening. Temperance had always been nice to her and she felt like someone needed to come to her aid. Running into the senior hallway, she saw Fischer and Wendell standing by the vending machine.

Breathless she skidded to a stop in front of them, "Payton and Temperance are going at it in biology" without a word Wendell and Fischer used their 10 years of football blocking experience to move towards that hallway, Wendell frantically dialing Booth as they ran, he finally answered the phone, "What's up Bray?"

"Get your $$ to Biology now, Payton's called her out" he slammed the phone shut as he and Fischer barreled down the stairs scattering students and faculty alike. The teachers turned and started chasing them, calling for security as they ran. It wasn't often 2 defensive linemen busted through students like that and they knew something was happening.

Meanwhile, in the hallway outside of the Biology classroom, their teacher was trying hard to break through the solid wall of students surrounding the two girls. "It's my business tramp because you stole him from me! You couldn't find a guy of your own so you had to go after mine!" she was as close as she could get without actually touching her and yelling into her face.

"Maybe he was looking for someone else; did you ever think of that? Maybe you cheating on him all the time got to be too much for him! I didn't go looking for your boyfriend Payton; he wasn't even your boyfriend when he went looking for me! I haven't done anything to you and you and your friends better leave me and my friends alone! I'm not afraid of you-and no matter what you think, Booth is my boyfriend now!" She was yelling just as loud right back at her. The adrenaline coursing through her veins temporarily made it difficult to hear as Fischer, Wendell and the AD Hacker all came crashing through the crowd.

"EVERYONE STOP NOW!" AD Hacker's voice was loud and very demanding. Wendell grabbed Tempe and Fischer grabbed Payton as they had both started to step out of the middle of the circle, everyone else scattered including Caroline and Daisy. Booth came around the corner running full out just in time to see Hacker and the girls going into an empty classroom.

"Now, I'm going to ask you both what is going on and you are going to answer one at a time, understood?" He was an imposing man, usually quite jovial and had a ready smile, but after this little episode, he was not in a good mood.

"She has a recording of me and Seeley Booth from lunch today and she played in front of the crowd, and she made it sound dirty and it wasn't, it was totally innocent!" Temperance started, suddenly deathly afraid that the Sweets were going to be called and everything was going to come crashing down. Determined not to lose anymore to Payton she kept going, "She's been spying on us, calling me names, threatening me behind the gym, all because she says I stole her boyfriend!"

"Payton, do you have a recording like that?"

"No sir, I don't know what she is talking about, I was leaving class and all I said was that I hoped she was happy with Seeley, nothing else." Payton had handed the recorder off to Daisy as soon as she had released the play button."

"Did you threaten her?" he asked.

"All I did behind the gym was tell her that I needed his jersey back before the game, he's a senior and a co-captain, it didn't make sense for her to be wearing the jersey when he would need it. I haven't been spying on them, I can't help it if I'm on the cheerleading squad, so I am in the vicinity of the football team and I just happen to be at the same places they are. That's just random. I was mad because Seeley starting going out with her so soon after he dumped me, so I may have thought that she stole him, but I never threatened her"

AD Hacker said "Payton, if there is a recording like that and it is found, you will be in a lot of trouble, you realize that?"

"Yes Sir" she responded primly.

"In that case, please remember that these are hallways of a learning institution as well as a Catholic institution; try to remember some of the things you are taught in class and in service. One full day of detention to be served after this weekend's game and I would encourage you to leave well enough alone, okay?"

She wasn't happy about the detention, but decided she was getting out of there very easily; she agreed and left the room.

Temperance on the other hand was floored at what had just happened. She couldn't believe that he had bought that whole fake lie of hers. AD Hacker could see the emotions crossing her face and he knew that she was wondering what was going on. "Temperance, I'm sure you can see that this is a very serious accusation you've made"

"Ask anyone that was out there, they will have heard it too, I didn't make it up" tears that had only been threatening were now free falling down her cheeks.

"This is a delicate situation that you are in, those two have been together since before I started working here, this is their senior year and they are under pressure to choose a college, etc, so it's understandable that Payton would get upset over this. I'm sure that she did something to provoke you, you seem like a very level headed girl, I'm not unfamiliar with your situation and I know this is very difficult for you too"

She couldn't believe how he was sugar coating everything. She wanted so badly to show him the photo, but it had been ripped in pieces and was in the trash, she couldn't show him the text because it wasn't sent to her. The voice recording was probably long gone now so unless someone who heard it stepped up to provide him proof, that too wasn't admissible. In such unfamiliar waters as she had never been in trouble for anything before, Tempe was lost.

"I'm not going to give you detention, you're only a sophomore and young love is just that, young. Payton knows better, she's almost 18. Temperance I'm also not going to put this in your file, I know that things at home can be difficult in the foster system, and I would not want to cause you any undue stress. However, I will caution you to not be so serious, you're what 16? Stay 16 for a while, you and Mr. Booth may want to slow down a little. I'm not trying to be your counselor or tell you what to do with your life, just encourage you to be a teenager for a little longer. Now, I believe sophomore lunch is almost over, so I will let you go. Remember me though; this is your one get out of jail free card Ms. Brennan, no more, okay?" He finished and patted her on the shoulder as he turned to leave. Wiping her face of the tears, she still could not believe what had just happened. She felt like she was the one being punished, like she was in the wrong, and she hadn't done anything.

Walking out of the classroom she barely recognized the three boys being talked to be AD Hacker. Even when she heard him call her name as she walked away, she still didn't turn. She called Angela and asked her to come get her; she'd be waiting out front.

CHAPTER 46

Booth was stunned. He couldn't believe what had just happened. While he watched the two girls and athletic director go into the classroom, he turned on Wendell and Fischer for an explanation.

"What the hell happened?" he demanded, looking at one than the other.

"Don't ask me man! All I know is I was trying to decide between Mountain Dew and Dr. Pepper and this little chick came skidding up and said that there was a beat down about to happen-and then we took off. Although, Bray, did you see that girl, she was kinda cute"

Wendell shook his head at Fischer, always the hound. "Did you hear about this morning?" he asked Booth.

"I don't know anything! What is going on?" Seeley wasn't really interested in being nice anymore, he wanted answers and he wanted them now.

Wendell took the opportunity to fill him in on the conversation that Tempe had that morning with Caroline and how he had stopped her from slapping his girl, and then he told them what they knew about this latest incident, just that they had come up and the two were yelling at each other. There was some general murmuring about a recording and how Booth was a $$hole if that was how he treated women. But all of that had come while the crowd was dispersing as Booth came running up.

"This is nuts, what is Payton trying to do?" he put his hand through his hair and leaned up against the nearest locker, "Wait, did you say you and Caroline broke up too?" he turned to Wendell.

"Yes, this morning in fact, apparently I'm either on your side or Payton's side, and since I think what she's doing sucks, that makes me no longer worthy of dating." He was bitter and really didn't want to re-hash it in front of his two best friends in the middle of school.

Fischer piped up, "I'm still totally in with Daisy, she's not the brightest tool in the shed, but she's a good kid. I keep telling her to let Payton do her own thing, and she's assured me she's out of it, I don't think we need to worry about her doing anything really bad, she's just a little naïve, but don't worry, Papa Colin will give her a good tongue lashing and she'll settle right down" he waggled his eyebrows and tried to make light of the situation.

Booth reached over and smacked him on the head and said, "Dude, that's not cool, okay? Wendell's girl broke up with him because of this crap, my girl is getting into shouting matches and Payton is going to come out smelling like a rose" he stopped just as she came out of the classroom.

Caroline and Daisy had been waiting around the corner and saw her come out of the room in a window reflection; they hurried around to gather her up before she could say anything to the three guys standing in the now mostly deserted hallway. Payton turned to Booth and waved her fingers at him and winked. She mouthed, "Gotcha" as she was forcefully escorted down the hall. Booth lunged for her and Wendell and Fischer both grabbed an arm to keep him from going after her.

"Simmer down man, I'll get the Payton version from Daisy, you get the Tempe version from, well, Tempe and then we'll compare notes, okay?" Although a total hound with the girls and jokester most of the time, Fischer sometimes came through in a clutch situation. This was one of the reasons he and Booth had stayed friends for as long as they had.

They stood around for a few more minutes waiting for Temperance to leave the classroom. Booth wanted nothing more than to take her and leave the school altogether, but he had football practice and there was no way Coach Hodgins was going to let him skip the before the SC game. Finally AD Hacker came out of the classroom and approached the boys.

"Gentleman, I think we can all agree that emotions have all run high today and it would be in our best interests to just let things calm down, there is no need for any kind of retribution, we need to focus on getting through the week, there's a big game on Friday and we need to stay on track. Mr. Booth, your young lady friend is walking a tight line, please don't make her have to cross it, you of all people know that she is at a critical juncture right now." He continued to drone on asking that the next time the other two felt the need to break up a girl fight, they maybe do so without taking out half the student and teacher population, Booth was no longer listening. He was watching her come out of the classroom with a vague and blank expression on her face.

"Temperance! Tempe" he yelled and she didn't turn around, in fact she just pulled out her phone and dialed a number. She hung up and put the phone away and continued on. AD Hacker had stopped talking and patting Booth on the shoulder he walked back to his office. Wendell and Fischer both looked at her retreating figure and the look of anguish on Booth's face.

He started to go after her, and Wendell said, "Let her go man-she needs a little time, let her go" he didn't know who she called, probably that wicked hot chick she hung out with, but even he knew when a girl needed to be left alone and this was clearly one of those times.

Booth had no way of knowing who she called, he knew she only had 4 numbers in that phone, and he couldn't see her calling Max and his phone hadn't rung. That only left two, and he was praying it was Angela she had called.

Chapter 46B

Temperance saw the black four runner pull up to the curb and she hopped inside. Without saying a word, he pulled away and began to merge into traffic. "I'm sorry, I didn't know who else to call, I can't talk to Booth about it and Angela would want to take care of things, I don't know what to do!" She broke down into sobs and he looked for a parking lot to pull into.

Pulling her over the console he gave her a hug when they came to a stop. "It's okay…shhh…it's alright, tell me what happened, Tempe, shhhh…"he said softly as he stroked her back.

She pulled away slowly and explained everything that had gone on until that point, including what had happened today and what the AD had done about it. Listening to her without interruption, he waited until she came to a hiccupping stop and then said, "Why didn't you tell Booth what was going on when you left the classroom? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm flattered that you called me and skipping class for this isn't a big deal to me, but why not talk to him?"

"I can't talk to him about this, it concerns him, we've already hashed it out time and time again, and she's been bothering us for weeks, and it's just ridiculous, I can't stand it, why is this happening? WHY?" she teared up again and looked out across the parking lot.

"Aside from you and the girls getting into it, what has Booth said to her do you know?"

"I don't know exactly what he's said, but I know he's told her to back off a few times, he even went to church with her on Sunday & told her to leave us alone then. I'm afraid she's going to do something really bad and then what? I can't keep doing this, I'm going to get in trouble at home, I'm lying about work, and I'm getting my friends involved, you and Max and Angela. Angela has done a ton of things for me and I can't keep asking her to help, I feel like this is all snowballing so fast, I don't know where to turn or what to do."

He thought about it for a few minutes and turning in his seat and reaching for her hand, he said, "I think you need to tell him exactly what you told me, it's important that you and he are able to talk about this. I don't know Angela aside from meeting her at the museum, but as your best friend it's okay to ask her for help. I'm sure she doesn't mind. I'm here for you to cry on my shoulder, vent on, whatever, I just want to be your friend, but I don't want to get in the middle of anything between you and Booth. I hope you understand that." He told her quietly.

"I do, I understand it, I'm just afraid that this is all we have…you know, I mean, what if this all that's holding us together is this constant bickering with his ex girlfriend? How much of this can I take? My parents left me, my brother left me. I've been passed from one house to another like luggage no one wants, this is the longest place I've gone to school since my parents left and as much as I dislike the Sweets I don't want to have to go to another home. I just want to go to school, graduate and go to college. I used to want to be a normal teenager, and now that I'm getting a taste of it, I don't think I want that anymore. Maybe I don't know what I want."

He looked at her, and his heart twisted. He could feel himself wanting to hold her, soothe away her fears and make it all go away, but he knew that he wasn't the one for her. If the closest thing he could ever be would be her friend than he would take that. He would be the brother that stayed if that is what she needed. "Temperance, I can't tell you what you want, anymore than Angela or even Booth can. All I can tell you is put your brain in neutral and your heart in drive and see what happens. If you care for him like you say you do, than you need to be honest with him and tell him that all of this craziness is just not what you had in mind. At the very least, you will be able to say you tried, right?"

"I guess so. This is all so new and so hard." She looked at the dashboard and saw that they had been sitting there for over an hour. "I need to get back; I need to get my things and then head on home. Thank you so much for listening to me, I know we just met, I just feel…like I can talk to you."

"You can kid, always" he smiled and let go of her hand, starting the car back up he drove her back to the school. When they got there, he took her around to the back parking lot to drop her off, and came around to open the door. When she got out, she turned into him and gave him a hug, he put his head on hers and hugged her back, leaning back, he tipped her chin up and said, "Anytime Tempe-you just call me anytime, okay?"

She said she would and turned to walk up to the school. He got back in the car and sat there for a minute and watched her walk through the main doors before pulling away from the curb to head to the museum. That kid is really having a hard time; he thought to himself, I hope it all works out. His truck turned out of the parking lot and he merged into traffic and was lost among the other vehicles heading to the city center.

CHAPTER 46C

Booth, Wendell and Fischer headed down to the gym to get in a little free weights before practice started; they walked to the front of the school to avoid the group of cheerleaders that were sitting out there listening to the head harpy. Pushing open the front door he saw her get into the four runners and started to call her name. Wendell also saw her and was about to ask who's car that was when he saw the look on Booth's face. Extremely pale except for two spots of red on his cheeks, his eyes were burning with fury, his hands clenched and his jaw tight he turned on his heel and marched back inside. Fischer and Wendell both looked at each other and turned to follow him.

They ended up in the gym and he was totally silent. They'd tried to talk to him and were met with total silence. He kept pounding out the weights, getting progressively heavier and heavier as he went. Eventually Fischer told him that he wasn't going to spot him anymore with that heavy of a bar and he walked away. Booth sat up, drenched in sweat and looked over at the clock on the wall. He said, "We've got to get to practice, let's go" and he headed off to the locker rooms to change his clothes.

"What do we do?" Wendell asked Fischer, "Dunno man, I don't know" they turned to follow him and once changed, the three of them jogged out to meet the rest of the team milling around the field. As they were lining up to run drills, Fischer nudged Wendell and pointed to the parking lot, unfortunately at that exact moment, Booth looked up from the run route he was studying and his eye was caught by a wink of sunshine of f of a side mirror, belonging to a black four runner. He dropped the card and walked over to where he could see a little better. He watched him go around to her side of the truck and saw her initiate the hug, and then when he tipped her chin he threw his helmet down and kicked it. Wendell and Fischer hurried over to intercept him as it looked as though he was going to head off the field. They each grabbed an arm and were both telling him to cool it, she would explain everything, she was upset too and anything they could to make him calm down. They watched her walk up to the school and not once did she turn to look at the team on the field. Wendell let go and said, "Maybe you should go talk to her now man? Tell Hodgins you don't feel well?"

Booth turned to him, tears in his eyes, "She has my number" was all he said as he picked up his helmet and headed back to the huddle…

CHAPTER 47A

When practice was over, Coach Hodgins and AD Hacker pulled Booth, Wendell and Fischer aside to discuss the day's events. Unless he was asked a direct question Booth remained silent. The coaches just wanted to know that there would be no repeat issues involving their various girlfriends and cheerleaders, and also wanted to make sure the boys were focused on the game. The three of them assured the coaches that they would be dialed in on game day and that their girl issues would be handled off of the field and school grounds. When they were done talking Booth turned to go to the locker room and without saying a word to anyone he took off his shoulder pads and grabbed his things to leave.

"Booth-hey man, you okay?" Wendell asked as he left the gym, "Booth-hey she stop—"

He turned and looked at Wendell and said, "I'm fine Wendell, see you tomorrow"

Walking to the parking lot Booth's mind was swirling like a tornado. He so badly wanted to go to her house and find out what was going on, he wanted to shake Payton until her teeth rattled, and he wanted to cry on his grandfather's shoulder like he did when he was young, but most of all he just wanted his heart to stop hurting. It was humiliating enough that his girlfriend got into the truck of another guy and shared an intimate hug with him, in front of his friends, but then to tear up in front of his friends too. He might as well turn over his man card. Putting his bag into the truck, he sat down and the hip pads from his football pants made it incredibly difficult to sit in the seat, so he jumped out of the truck with a muffled curse and took them out of the hip pocket. While he was leaning in the back seat putting them in his bag, he heard a familiar voice say, "She loves you, you know"

Turning around, he saw Zack's four runner was parked in the row behind the Explorer and he was leaning up against the hood.

"Really? I'm a little surprised to hear that from you, since she got into your truck and took off with you and hugged you and never even bothered to talk to me"

"Oh knock it off Booth" he said, coming over to his Explorer. "You of all people should know that she startles easily. I've only known her less than a week and even I can see that."

"I'm sorry I would have just expected my girlfriend to come talk to me when she has a bad day instead of another guy, I didn't appreciate seeing her get into your truck and then see her in your arms, excuse me if I come across as a little upset" he said sarcastically.

"All I can say is talk to her man, I told her I'll be her friend, she needs friends and I'm going to be at least that for her, but I'll tell you straight up, don't blow it. If you do, I'll be the one to pick up the pieces and I won't let her stay that way for long. Got it?" he'd moved over and was standing right in front of Booth now, "talk to her man." He clapped him on the shoulder and walked off.

Booth found that he'd been clenching his fists again and as he watched Zack pull away he released them as well as a hard breath. It had hurt to see her choose Zack, but he knew that in her mind he was just a friend, and she didn't have many. There was no way he could try to imagine what had gone through her mind when she and Payton were going toe to toe, and it had to have been even worse when AD Hacker spoke to her for her to just walk away. He had to talk to her. He had to make sure that Zack wouldn't be picking up any pieces.

He got inside his truck and turned his phone on. There was one missed call, praying that the call was from her, he scrolled to the log, his shoulders sagged when he saw that it was from Pops. Listening to the voicemail, he'd smiled; they were always running out of milk at that house. He texted Jared and told him he'd get some milk on his way home, he was going to make a stop first and then he'd be there and to let Pops know. Putting the truck in drive, he headed to the carousel in the park.

Once he got there, he pulled a hoody on and put his baseball cap on and walked over to the carousel. Sitting on the bench outside the carousel he was lost in thought, he'd always come to the park to think in the past, it was one of his favorite places to go in the city. Now, he found that after only sharing it one time with her, the carousel was where he needed to be. His phone began to vibrate, expecting a return text from Jared, he looked down and his whole body tensed, his heartbeat quickened and his stomach rolled to see the picture of Booth and Tempe flashing indicating that he had an incoming text. Given the time of evening, she must be home already and so were the Sweets.

"Booth-We need to talk-Temperance" read the text.

Surprised at her formality, usually he was BMOC and she was Bone Lady, he responded immediately, "Can I call you?"

She texted back after a long delay, "Not now-Sweets home"

"Can I pick u up in am?"

There was hesitation in her response, "okay" she finally sent back.

Booth wasn't sure what to say next. He wanted to hear her voice, but knew that it was impossible, deciding to put his heart on the line and take the plunge, "Bone Lady-I love you & I'm sorry-please talk 2 me"

He waited there for another 10 minutes without a response and feeling frustrated and hurt he got up and started towards the parking lot, sitting in the driver's seat he leaned back and closed his eyes. The phone rang and he answered it without looking at it, "hello?"

She whispered, "I love you too" and then hung up. He opened his eyes and looked at the display and sighed. He felt a warm tear trickle out of his eye, but his heart was lighter than it had been all day as he drove to the store to get milk for Pops.

CHAPTER 47B

Once Zack had dropped her off she went into the school and headed straight to her locker. Most of the kids were gone or were on their way to the parking lot or buses; so she was able to get there without anyone really noticing her. She didn't even realize that she'd walked right past football practice until she was on her way back to the bus lot. When she was across from the field she risked a glance and was able to pick him out of the half a dozen or so players standing in a loose knot on the field. His back was to her, and she willed him to turn and look but just then a whistle was blown and they lined up for a play. Seeing that her bus was pulling into the lot, she turned and hurried over to get in line to get onto the bus.

Wendell had seen her come out of the school and started to try to get Booth's attention, but there were too many other distractions with coaches and whistles blowing. He decided he'd just tell him that she'd stopped after practice.

Temperance leaned her head against the window of the bus as it headed towards her house. She was glad that she had spoken to Zack and she knew that he was right that she needed to talk to Booth. She was so unsure what to say or do right now. Thinking over the events of the day, she thought what hurt the most was that AD Hacker didn't seem to think that it was that big of a deal and that she seemed to be the one in the wrong. At her stop she gathered up her things and tried to ignore the whispers she heard walking down the aisle, it seemed that she was becoming quite the topic of conversation. When she was almost off the bus, she heard a girl say to her seatmate, "I don't care how rough he is, I'd do him!" the two dissolved in giggles until Tempe turned around and said scathingly, "lucky for me you'll never get the chance" and walked away. The whole bus oooohed and aaaahhhed as she got off and once she was gone they all started chattering away about the day's events.

She went into her house and straight to her room, Rebecca was home and was on her computer, Lance was expected later. She hoped that if she headed straight up there, she could avoid a confrontation, but she knew that it was wishful thinking. She went straight to her bed and lay down on it, there was a little bit of homework to do, but she just couldn't raise enough interest to care right now. She took her jacket off and reached into the pocket to pull out her pig and dolphin charm. She held them tight and wished that she was able to call Booth, looking at the clock; she could see that he'd be at practice for at least another hour or so. Deciding to get homework out of the way after all she dove into. Turning her radio on she was lost in the music and deep into the translation of Latin verbs when there was a knock on her door. Surprised, she looked up and said, "Yes?"

Lance opened the door and told her that she was expected for dinner. "Okay, I'll be there in just a moment, I need to wash up and change" she told him, heading to her dresser for a clean pair of jeans, when he said, "Dinner is at the same time every evening Temperance, I would think that me coming up her to retrieve you wouldn't be necessary."

"Yes Sir, I'm sorry, I was busy with my homework" she told him automatically. Turning she headed towards the bathroom to change. He left the doorway and allowed her to go past him, "maybe we should restrict the radio? Is it a distraction?" he asked.

"No sir, I was just busy with my homework, I wasn't distracted by the radio" she stopped speaking and went into the bathroom with her jeans, effectively cutting off his response. After she changed she splashed water on her face and went downstairs.

Sitting down at her spot, she grasped their hands for grace, after the blessing Rebecca and Lance started passing the dishes and started in on their favorite topic; Tempe bashing. They started off with her lack of respect for being late to dinner; then moved on to how her job interferes with their expectations for a thriving home life and then finally touched on what the plans were for her over the holidays. Barely listening and giving the requisite "yes Sir/Ma'am or no Sir/Ma'am" they expected, she was totally floored when they told her that they were not going to Rebecca's sisters' house for the holidays. She looked up sharply at this news. Rebecca continued, "We've been invited to spend the holidays in Florida with Lance's niece and nephew on their boat. There is only room for two of us as they were unaware that we had taken you in. So, we find ourselves in a bit of a quandary. We'd really like to attend and not be responsible for disrupting their holiday plans, but as your parents we are also responsible for you. We've spoken to the state and they've advised that due to your age it would be incredibly difficult to place you in a safe home for just the holidays, so I'm sure you can understand our position." She stopped to nod at Lance.

Temperance could not believe what she was hearing. She desperately hoped that they would offer her the chance to stay home alone for the holidays; she could go with Angela or Max or even go to Seeleys'. Feeling like maybe Karma was making up for the awful day, she hardly dared to breathe. She was afraid to suggest Angela or Max, so sat there quietly wondering where it would go.

Lance spoke next, "We really hesitate to offer this in lieu of your lack of respect and responsibility, but as we see no other way out, you will be left here alone for the week of Thanksgiving and the following weekend. However, there will be stringent security measures implemented, you are not to invite that Angela girl over here for one thing, in fact, no one is to come to our home. We'll go into the details more thoroughly when it gets closer, until now, let's just enjoy our meal."

Temperance could not believe what she had just heard. She was momentarily stunned into silence. She picked up her fork and did everything she could to make sure the food made it from the plate to her mouth without incident. While she ate, all she could think of was how quickly she could get back upstairs to text Angela and Booth. Stealing a look at the clock above the stove, she knew that he was out of practice and should be home soon. After the meal, she did the dishes, and then hurried upstairs.

CHAPTER 47C (bear w/all the text speak-hope you still like it)

The first thing she did when she was upstairs was text Seeley, "Booth-We need to talk-Temperance" she was so excited to tell him what the Sweets had said that she didn't even pause to think that he may interpret her text the wrong way. She was giddy and the fights from the day had gone completely out of her mind. Texting Angela she told her "I'm home alone on Thanksgiving! Yay!"

Angela texted back immediately, "SWEETIE! THAT ROCKS!" she and Angela continued to text furiously with plans, each more outlandish than the previous. During this time, Booth had texted back, "Can I call you?" Temperance found that it was difficult to keep up her end of the texting with Angela let alone with Booth too.

When Angela finally wound down and Tempe was able to concentrate on her other texts, she saw that he had sent, ""Bone Lady-I love you & I'm sorry-please talk 2 me" she closed and locked her door and went into her closet and dialed his number, praying that the Sweets wouldn't come upstairs, when she heard him say, "hello" she whispered, "I love you too" and then fearing the worst, she hung up quickly.

She went to the little desk in her room and attempted to finish her homework. Her mind was swirling with the possibilities of having an entire week to herself. She was trying to caution herself not to get too excited or worked up about it, knowing the Sweets; they'd change her mind the minute she showed any kind of enthusiasm for it. Maybe she would be able to pick up some day shifts at the museum and that would appease them, knowing she wasn't actually alone in the house. She knew that it wasn't her personally they were worried about, more their material possessions that they were concerned she would start on fire or something. Sighing, she picked up her homework where she had left off and turned the radio back on. It was closing in on 9 o'clock when she decided that she would take a shower this evening rather than in the morning, she wanted to braid her hair and leave it down in the morning. Booth had mentioned that he liked it down, and after their disastrous day today, she wanted to look nice for him. She turned the radio down and her phone to silent before stashing it in her pillowslip.

An hour later she came out of the bathroom and was getting ready to go to bed, she thought maybe she'd read a bit and listen to the radio on her headphones before sleep. Telling the Sweets good night, something she rarely did, she closed her door and turned her radio on and put her headset on. Picking up her book she began to read against the pillows on her bed, when she remembered to get her phone and plug it into the charger. She pulled it out and was about to plug it in when she saw there was a text. Hoping it was nothing bad, she scrolled through the log and read "I kno we're going 2 talk N the AM, but I cldn't stop thnkng of u-BMOC"

She texted back, "Sry was in shwr, I was thnkng of u 2" putting the book down, she turned her lights off and pulled the covers up and settled back against the pillows again.

"u thght of me in shwr ;)?"

She grinned and txted, "yes, don't u thnk of me in shwr?" She decided that she was going to go all or nothing, they both needed this.

"my shwr or urs?"

"ours?"

There was a 5 minute delay before he texted back and she wondered if maybe she went too far and was starting to get worried when he sent her, "oh Babe...UR N TRBL now"

Feeling her face heat up, her response was a little more adventurous than she thought she was capable of, "thnk U can hndl it?"

"Can U?" he sent back.

"All U got" and as soon as she sent it, she put her face in her hands and couldn't wipe the grin off if she tried. I can't believe I'm doing this she thought to herself.

"Little 1-thts A LOT-R U sure?"

Tempe thought of something she'd heard Angela say once to one of the other tour directors and she thought it would be appropriate here, she just wondered if he'd figure it out.

"Bring it don't sing it"

Patiently waiting for his reply, she noticed that GORDON GORDON was going to be on soon and wondered if he was listening. She was having such a good time and was wrapped up in the texting when she heard the DJ speak in her headphones…

DIALING IT UP HOT AND HARD TONIGHT…OUR FIRST SONG OF THE NIGHT IS FROM BMOC AND WHOAH…IT'S AN OLDIE BUT A GOODIE…LADIES GRAB YOUR MAN AND HOLD ON TIGHT…BONE LADY I HOPE YOU'RE LISTENING!

Brennan was floored when the song started…

Close your eyes, make a wish and blow out the candlelight fFor tonight it is your night  
We're gonna celebrate, all through the night pour the wine, light the fire girl your wish is my command  
I'll submit to your demands I will do anything, girl you need only ask I'll make love to you like you want me to and I'll hold you tight baby all through the night I'll make love to you when you want me to and I will not let go'till you tell me to…

The Boyz II Men song was making her palms sweat and her body flush. She listened to the whole song before she realized that he had texted her back, "how wz that 4 singing?"

Tempe didn't know what to say, this was all unchartered territory, trying to flirt in person was nothing like flirting via text message and she was unsure how to proceed. While she tried to figure out a response she got a whole different text, "PLEASE tell me that you are alone? ~ANGEL~"

"Yes-what do I do? HELP!" she texted her back.

"Girl-you are your own-have fun! ~ANGEL~"

Dammit, she swore under her breath, still trying to figure out what to do, he texted her again, "still there? ;)"

CHAPTER 48

"Barely holding on-ttyl BMOC lv Bone Lady" she eventually texted back. She had no idea where she was going with this and desperately wanted to see him, plus it was late and she needed to get to sleep. The last thing he sent was, "LOL-I WIN…C U 2moro lv u 2". Smiling she plugged the phone into the charger and went to sleep.

The next morning she got up and put on one of her new pairs of uniform slacks, already glad that she had decided to get them; she would be so much more comfortable today. When she got downstairs, Rebecca asked why she wasn't wearing her skirt. "The skirt is too short by dress code standards, so I bought some slacks to wear until next semester when I will get some new skirts." The lie sounded plausible although she felt awful for having to do it. After last night though, there was no way she wanted to upset anything, she would do whatever she could to be allowed to have a week free of the Sweets and their demands.

Although unhappy about it, Rebecca acquiesced to that explanation; she didn't want to buck the school over something so trivial. "Are you working tonight?" she asked Tempe as she buttered her toast.

"Yes Ma'am, I work tonight through Saturday." Temperance replied. Grabbing her toast and a juice, she started for the door. Turning at the last minute, she tried to connect to this woman who for all intents and purposes would most likely be the one raising her for the next few years, "I want you to know that it means a lot to me that you would give me the responsibility to stay home by myself over the holidays."

Rebecca was taken aback. She had a brief flash of her own teenage years and although it was a different time, she knew that the overall angst was the same, "You're welcome Temperance, let's just hope you don't abuse our trust" she said as she turned to leave the kitchen to get ready for work. Tempe watched her leave the kitchen and then went outside. It was bitterly cold and she was grateful that she had gotten the slacks, as well as for the heavy jean jacket she wore. She headed to the bus stop and saw his Explorer parked on the corner, not sure if he saw her or not, she started to cross the street to meet him when he flashed his lights at her, telling her to stay where she was. He waited for an opening in traffic and came straight over. He leaned over and opened up the door for her, and when she crawled inside he said, "Hi babe" and her heart just melted.

"Hi Seeley" she said and smiled at him. He couldn't take his eyes off of her, she'd worn her hair down and it was slightly wavy from the braids. He never noticed how long her legs were until he saw the grey slacks that went on and on. "You look good today Tempe" he told her as he pulled back into traffic.

"Thank you"

On the days that he picked her up, they usually got to school with 15-20 minutes to spare before the first bell rang, so on the way to the school, she asked him to pull over for a second. Puzzled he did as she asked, and found a space at an office building that wasn't open for business yet. He was apprehensive, but thought there was no way that anything bad could happen after last night's text fest.

When he put the car in park she unbuckled her seatbelt and pushed the door lock button before she practically jumped across the console, halfway in his lap and half on her own seat, her breasts pressed against his chest and her hands on the door behind him, she kissed him hard. She led the dance between their tongues and he reached over and grabbed her butt to pull her closer to him. Breaking off the kiss she leaned back slightly and looked into his eyes, which were almost black with longing. "I'm sorry about yesterday and I know we'll talk about it later, but I needed you to know that first, and I needed to do that before we got to school" she finished leaning in to kiss him again, softer this time. He captured her mouth with his and lightly traced her lip with his tongue, and then moved to her neck and then to her collarbone. Feeling herself start to lose control, she inadvertently arched right into his mouth, and he pulled her even closer. He reached down to move the seat back as far as it would go and in one move pulled her into his lap. She felt his hardness against her the back of her leg and knew that if she moved even just a little bit the friction would do delicious things to him, so she shifted slightly and felt as well as heard him groan against her neck. He brought his hand up to her cheek and slowly slid his fingers down along her jawline to her neck and then traced her collarbone through her shirt. She had leaned her head back and her eyes were closed when he whispered, "open your eyes Tempe."

She opened them slowly and he saw a flicker of desire in their depths, making sure that she kept her eyes on his, he slowly moved his hand to her top button and started to unbutton it, without saying a word he moved to the next one, trusting that she would stop him when she was ready, when she tensed he could barely see the top of her bra against her ample cleavage and he leaned his head down and softly kissed the bit of lace that he could see. He heard her gasp and then tense again and he lifted his head, "I'll stop, I'm sorry" he told her, letting her button the shirt back up.

"Don't be sorry, I'm not" she told him as she moved back to her seat. She looked at the clock and said, "We'd better hurry, or we'll be late."

"You'd think I'd actually care about that, but right now I have so many other things on my mind." He told her ruefully, "Not the least of which is how I'm going to get out of the truck with a raging hard on." She laughed loudly and blushed, "Guess we can both sing, huh?" she said.

Laughing with her, he drove them to school, one hand entwined with hers on the console. When they got there, he walked her to her locker and told her he'd see her at lunch, he had to run, his first class was on the other side of the school and the warning bell was about to ring. She stowed her things and headed to her first class of the day, already her mind was on lunch and him.

Both of their classes were uneventful that morning, much to the chagrin of the rest of the student body. The majority of them were hoping for some sort of tangle between one or more or all of them. The fight stories had raged through the school like wildfire and by the time Booth heard them, Tempe and Payton had been having a good old fashioned knock down drag out fist fight. Tempe heard them all too, and although she didn't like all the attention, she was secretly amused that she was thought to be such a fighter. Guess it took something worth fighting for she thought to herself as she walked to her locker after the last class before lunch. There was a note on the locker when she got there and she tensed up again thinking that it was starting all over again.

"In truck-see you there-BMOC" knowing that he would sign it that way and not by Seeley, she hastily stowed her stuff around the bag containing the football, jersey, hoody and Booth. I need a bigger locker she thought, grabbing her lunch she spun the lock closed and headed out to the parking lot.

CHAPTER 49

Temperance had a light step as she headed to the truck, she knew that they needed to talk, but still felt pretty good about it. When she got in, he asked if she had brought her lunch and showing him the brown bag he nodded and pulled his own lunch out. "Want to go somewhere? Or just eat here?" he asked her.

"Why don't we just eat here, we can sit in the cargo area-the seats go down don't they?"

"Yes, I can put them flat" and he got out and opened up the back door to lay the backseat down, making the cargo area bigger. She climbed over the console and leaned up against the passenger seat; her legs outstretched and looked in her lunch bag. She was wondering how to start when he closed the passenger door and climbed in to sit down too.

"So, what happened?" he asked, opening his own lunch bag. Tempe took a moment to finish chewing and asked, "Do you want all the gory details or just the abridged version?"

Booth raised his eyebrows and said nothing just continued to chew and she realized that he wasn't going to let her get away with anything. Starting from the beginning, she told him about the confrontation with Caroline and Payton and then what AD Hacker said, and how she just couldn't believe he was blaming her for everything. She told him that she didn't even realize what she was doing when she left, she just knew that it was easier to talk to someone else than it was to talk to him about it.

Booth was hurt and stunned by that, he spoke quietly, "Tempe, are you afraid of me?"

Surprised, she looked up from the rest of her lunch bag and said, "Afraid of you? No-that's not what I meant. I mean, I can't talk to Angela about Angela, I talk to you about Angela, not that I've needed to, but…Well, I guess I can talk to Max too, anyway, what I mean is if there was something I needed advice on about Angela, I wouldn't ask her. It was the same thing, I needed to know what to do and I couldn't ask you."

"Why not?" he still didn't understand, he would feel comfortable asking her anything.

"Because I want to know exactly what I'm saying to you before I say it, I find it difficult to ask you for advice about you. It's not logical. Zack was the perfect person to talk to because I needed an unemotional and logical answer and I knew that he would give me that. I like Zack, he listens to me and I understand him."

"I listen to you too." He told her, still not quite understanding what she was trying to say.

Exasperated Tempe said, "Booth-what would you have done if I would of come up to you and started to talk about why I didn't think we should be together moments after you saw me and your ex-girlfriend fighting?"

"First of all, I don't like it when _you_ call me Booth, and secondly, are you saying you want to break up with me?" he was more confused now than when the conversation started.

"No, I'm not saying that, I wouldn't have kissed you this morning like I did if I wanted to break up with you. What I'm saying is, I needed a third party objective non partisan opinion on what to do!" she was getting frustrated thinking this is exactly why I wanted to talk to Zack to begin with. "Does that make sense?"

"I guess so, you wanted to ask some random guy what you should say to your boyfriend about your relationship with him" he said, somewhat hurtful.

She got on her knees and moved in front of him. Putting a hand on each side of his face she said, "I love you you big dummy. I don't care what Payton does or tries. I'm done being afraid of her. I just needed to talk to someone else. I'm sure there will be times when you will want to talk to Wendell or Colin and not me. Let's just say we have a free pass to do so okay? I can talk to my friends when I need advice I don't think I can get from you and vice versa. Will that work?" She felt a little foolish talking to him like he was 10 but, for the first time they weren't really connecting they way they had all along.

"I guess so" he mumbled, he still just didn't understand why she couldn't talk to him about everything and anything. Temperance sighed and tipped her head back. She was done trying to explain it, leaning in; she kissed his nose and then went back to where she had been sitting. They drifted into lighter subjects, when she suddenly said, "OH MY GOD!"

"WHAT!?" he said looking around outside to the parking lot.

"I totally forgot to tell you what happened last night" she then launched into a narrative of the family dinner and what the Sweets had offered her. Booth's heart swelled, "So will you come to Thanksgiving with us? Angela can come too?" Hell, Zack and Max could come to if it meant she would be able to get out of the house. "I don't know, the details still need to be worked out, but I hope so, I'll ask Angela, she may have something else going on, and she did invite me to her house first, but we've got time, we'll figure it out. I'm just so excited about this, I've never been allowed to do anything with my friends, and since the last time the Sweets told me I wouldn't be able to do anything with you guys this is a big deal!" He couldn't help but get caught up in her enthusiasm too.

She asked him what his practice schedule was like this week and he told her they were practicing every day and leaving early Friday morning, she told him she was going dress shopping on Wednesday and did he care what color she got. Since she had never done this before she wasn't sure.

"Blue" he told her, "I like blue" he could just imagine with her dark hair and light eyes how beautiful she would be.

"Blue it is then" She told him.

The bell rang and lunch was over, they gathered up their trash and climbed out of the truck, the picture showed the seats laid down and although innocent, when he leaned in to kiss her, it looked as though the back of the truck was used as more than just a place to talk out of the cold…

CHAPTER 50

The two of them walked hand in hand back to the school; she had biology to muddle through and then was off to work, he had gym which equaled a longer football practice. When they got to the steps leading up to the double doors, she stopped and pulled slightly on his hand. "Seeley? Can I talk to you for just a second, seriously?" she was biting her lip and afraid to look him in the eye.

"Yes Tempe, what's on your mind little one?" he asked taking her over to the edge of the stairs and leaning up against them, pulled her in close.

"This morning, in your truck we went a lot further than in the past, and I really liked it, but I'm not ready to go any further and I just wanted you to know that I wasn't trying to tease you, I never expected to go as far as we did, I just couldn't make my brain make my body stop." She finished almost whispering.

"I told you, I'd never pressure you to do anything you didn't want to, and I still feel that way Tempe, you're 16 and when you're ready, you'll know. Until then, I'm happy with a PG 13 rating, okay?" he smiled down at her and leaned in to kiss her softly on the lips, "I don't need anything more than that."

She smiled back and hugged him, the two of them went their separate ways, and she told him she'd see him on the field on her way to work.

Booth jogged down to the gym and thought about the entire day. He was so surprised at her this morning, and as much as he wanted to keep going, he knew that she wasn't ready. It wasn't like his first time, with Payton; she'd already been with someone else and was rather impatient with his reluctance to tag all four bases. He was actually glad that Temperance wanted to slow back down, he loved just being with her, and didn't need to do anything more.

Going into the locker room Wendell and Fischer were playing HORSE with wadded up towels and a broken basketball hoop while they waited for him to show. "So, did you and the princess work it out?" Fischer asked in his typical backhanded manner.

"Yes, as a matter of fact we did," Booth told him, "it's all good, I still don't understand why she called Zack, something about him not being me and being able to talk about me, I dunno, it was girl speak" he was getting his football pads on when Wendell said, "Well, she did stop to watch you yesterday, I tried to tell you but you weren't in the most receptive mood."

"That's alright man, I'm glad you guys were there, it could have been ugly for Addy if you weren't." Coach Hodgins called them all together and practice was on.

Temperance headed to her usual seat in biology and opened her book. Staring straight ahead, she was no longer worried about catching Payton's eye or anyone else's for that matter. She and Seeley were back on track, she was going to be without the Sweets for an entire week, tomorrow she was going shopping for her first dance and right now she felt ten feet tall and bulletproof. Class started and she tuned in as much as she could while she replayed what had happened that morning in her mind. She couldn't say why she had told Seeley she wasn't ready to go further, she knew that eventually she wouldn't stop him, but for her, right now it wasn't the right time. There was so much more about him that she wanted to know and learn about. Slipping into a day dream, she thought about what their future could be like and what lie ahead for them. Doodling on her papers while the teacher droned on, she wrote their initials inside a heart, then Temperance Booth with smaller hearts around it. When the bell ended signifying the end of class, she wadded up the paper and threw it away as she left the class.

She picked up the wadded piece of paper and it quickly disappeared inside her jacket.

Temperance went to her locker and put away her things, giving Booth a squeeze, she closed and locked the lock and headed to the parking lot. As she was leaving the school, she looked out over the field and saw a jacked up silver pick up sitting in the lot. Wondering why Angela was here, she hurried out to parking lot. "Sweetie! Over here!" Angela was in the bleachers waving from the top row, she hurried down to the bottom to meet Tempe. Temperance gave her a hug and said, "What are you doing here Ange? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just thought I'd give you a ride to work and I wanted to watch the boys sweat it out a little. Plus, I miss you" she pouted, "Ever since BMOC came around, I feel like we don't get to talk as often, even if we didn't get to talk that often before!"

Hugging her friend close as they watched practice, Tempe told her, "No matter what happens, you'll always be my best friend Angela, without you, I wouldn't be me." The two of them leaned into each other and smiled. Standing on the sidelines, Wendell leaned over to Fischer and said, "Do you think I would have a chance with her?"

"With who?" he asked.

Nodding to the bleachers he said, "Her"

Deliberately being difficult he said, "Tempe? I don't think Booth is quite ready to let her go yet."

"I'm not ready to let who go?" Booth asked coming up behind them to get a drink.

"I think Wendell wants to go out with Tempe, at least that's what he told me" Fischer said mischievously.

"Fischer, you're an $$. I didn't mean Tempe, I meant Angela. That girl is white hot and since I'm suddenly single, maybe I'll ask her out" he puffed up his chest and put his helmet on.

"Let me know how that works out for you" Booth said as he turned to look at his girl and her best friend on the bleachers. Laughing Wendell headed out to the field and Fischer followed shortly after.

Angela whistled and Booth turned to see them leaving, he gave Tempe a little wave and she waved back. Angela blew the team kisses and they all stopped to watch the two of them get into the truck and pull out of the parking lot. Booth turned back to the huddle and heard a screeching noise and then a grinding crash of twisted metal and glass breaking. Feeling his heart fall into his stomach he turned to see the silver truck sliding on its side, and without stopping he and the rest of the team turned and started running towards the accident.

CHAPTER 51A

Cleats sliding on the asphalt the 40 players on the team were scrambling to get to the truck and not fall down trying to help. One tire on the truck was still lazily spinning as steam from the engine rose into the cold air. Paralyzed briefly with shock Booth and Wendell climbed into and onto the back of the truck and tried to get access through the passenger side window. Looking through the rear slider they were able to see that both girls were conscious. Wendell leaned over the window and Booth held his feet as he reached into the window opening and said, "Angela, Tempe, girls are you okay?"

Angela looked up from where she and Tempe were pressed up against the passenger door and floorboard and said, "Do we look okay?"

Smiling and feeling a lot better if she was able to be snarky back to him he slid a little further in on his belly and told her to reach up, he'd pull her out. They could hear the blare of the sirens starting to get louder in the distance. Angela grabbed Wendells hands and with a push from Temperance and a pull from Booth on his legs, she was hoisted out of the truck. Wendell handed her down to Fischer and then got out of the way of Booth, who was trying to fit into the small opening around Wendell. "Dude-we're both not going to fit, just hold on" he said exasperated as Booth tried to force his 190 lb frame next to Wendell. Peering over the edge of the window Booth refused to believe she was fine until he saw her. Looking up with wide frightened eyes, she said, "Booth get me the hell out of here!" in a higher than normal voice. Relief flooded his body as he said, "Don't call me Booth."

He reached in as Wendell had done and she pushed off the passenger seat and grabbed his upper arms, Goodman had taken his place and hauled the two of them out just as the ambulance arrived. The rest of the players had been keeping a perimeter around the truck and keeping the on-lookers at bay. Once the authorities appeared, Coach Hodgins told the team to get back to the field and out of the way. He told Wendell, Booth and Fischer to come back when they made sure the girls were okay. Fischer and Wendell were standing with Angela who was refusing medical attention while she was on the phone. She'd called the museum first to tell them they were going to be late and then she called her dad. Her dad was on his other line at the same time setting up transportation and his lawyer was calling the insurance company. He told her that she would have another car there within 20 minutes with a driver. Once she had assured him again that she was physically okay, just shook up, she hung up and the tough chick persona dissolved.

Chest hitching and voice cracking she wrapped her arms around herself and said, "I don't know what happened, one minute we're pulling out, the next minute were sliding on the side." Wendell reached over and enveloped her in a hug and she latched onto him and started crying.

Booth on the other hand had his hands full with a hysterical Temperance who was desperately trying to stop shaking, the paramedics had checked her out and other than a slight bruise on her shoulder and glass in her hair she seemed fine. They offered to take her to the hospital and she told them that wouldn't be necessary. "I have to get to work Seeley, I have to go, oh my god, if the Sweets find out, I'm in so much trouble, I'm not supposed to ride with Angela and I should already be there, someone needs to call the museum, I've got to go" She was babbling nonstop while he held her, and tried to calm her down.

"Shhh…Tempe, honey…Shhhhh….you'll get there…hold on, okay?" he just kept murmuring into her hair until he could get her to quiet down and he could feel her stop shaking. Fischer was over looking at the truck and was making some mental notes when the firefighters came over with the girls' purses and a coat. Booth looked over at Angela and Wendell who had now been joined by the police and started over with Temperance held tight in his arms.

Angela was standing in front of Wendell and was wrapped in his arms while the police questioned her, "Tell me exactly what happened, Miss…Montenegro" he said consulting her drivers license.

"We got in, we'd just left the practice field, we were chattering about the guys, I started the truck up, one of my dad's songs was on the radio so we turned it up, I backed out of the spot, drove to the end of the lane and then over to the entrance of the lot, Tempe said it feels like I'm leaning into the door, she pulled the seatbelt off a little to look and see if there was anything under the seat and I pulled into traffic and started to accelerate, next thing I know I feel the truck start to tip and slide. I turned the wheel to try and counter balance us since we were tipping so fast but all it did was make us roll over. That's all I know officer" she said, voice trembling she leaned back into Wendell's embrace.

"What about you, Miss? Do you remember anything else?" he turned towards Temperance.

"No sir, I felt like I was leaning up against the door, and I remembered looking to see if it was locked and it was, and then I tried to see why the seat felt lopsided. I really honestly don't know what happened next, except that the road was rising to meet us and the noise from the crash."

Booth had been holding her and was still stroking her arm as she spoke. The police officer and his partner both began looking at the wreck with Fischer, and then Temperance asked, "Can I go? I have to get to work." Booth told her to wait a minute or so more, they'd find out. He was just so very glad that she wasn't hurt, he wasn't thinking about what would happen if the Sweets found out or anything. Another car pulled up, a polar white Escalade and a very, very large black man got out. He said, "Angela" in a cultured, Australian accent and she lost it completely and ran over to him.

"Oh Grayson! I was so scared, Dad is going to kill me, look at his truck! I thought I'd hurt Temper and oh I'm so glad you're here!" she was sobbing in his arms. The giant of a man was holding her and rubbing her back while she cried. Wendell stood and stared, he was a big guy by modern standards, but this guy made him look like a 98 pound weakling. Once he got her calmed down again the two of them headed over to the police and Grayson flashed a badge to the officers and spoke to them a bit, then they came to where Booth, Temperance and Wendell were now standing. Fischer was helping the tow truck driver attach the cable to pull the truck back over onto its tires.

"Wendell, Booth, Temper this is my main man, Grayson Barrasa" Angela introduced him.

"It's a pleasure to meet Miss Angela's friends he said, now, I believe Miss Temperance that you are free to go according to the police, so let's get you and Miss Angela to work. Gentleman, I'm sure you will be more productive on the field of battle?" he addressed them all and they all agreed. Booth wasn't happy, but he told her that he'd talk to her later and grabbing an awestruck Wendell and telling Fischer to hurry he kissed her on the cheek and they hurried back to the field. The professionals had the scene under control, the looky loo's had all moved on and the truck was about to be pulled back over. The paramedics had already left and the police men had told Angela they would be in touch with her. Heading over to the Cadillac Temperance's head was spinning and she was slightly nauseous.

"What happened?" she asked Angela.

"I don't know Sweetie" she replied, grabbing her hand as they piled into the back seat. Grayson settled into the driver's seat and told them they would be okay, and not to worry. Whispering Temperance said, "Is he your boyfriend?"

Angela looked at her quizzically and mouthed, "Who?"

Temperance nodded at Grayson who seemed to take up the entire front of the truck. "No, he's my bodyguard, has been since I was about 6 or so" she told her quietly. "He's like my second father though, I tell him all my secrets and he never rats me out. Next to you, he's my best friend" Catching her eye in the rear view mirror he winked and smiled. The girls rode the rest of the way to the museum in silence, both of them lost in their thoughts of what could have possibly happened. Temperance especially was hoping against hope that she could get through this without the Sweets finding anything out. She'd been asked for a phone number, and had given the police officer her cell phone and Max's work number. It was one more thing to add to the long list of things that she'd fudged since she had met Booth and it was starting to worry her when that list was going to be drawn into question.

CHAPTER 51B

Angela checked her watch and said, "We gotta head out kid, we have to be to work in 20." The two of them headed off the bleachers and as they were heading towards the end of the field, Angela whistled loud and long and the team turned to look. Booth waved at them and they waved back, Angela took it a step further and blew kisses to the team, which a few of them pretended to catch. Watching the two of them saunter off, the team was tossing frat boy speak amongst themselves, but out of earshot of Booth and his boys. Watching them get into the big silver truck, also a source of envy the guys turned back to their various drills and coaches.

Once they got in the truck Angela started it up and a song by her dad was on the radio, a big fan even before she met Angela, Tempe reached over and turned it up. The truck was built for looks and for music and the speakers responded very nicely to the volume being cranked. The two girls were air guitaring and singing at the top of their lungs as they made their way out of the parking lot. Temperance thought there was something wrong with her seat; she was practically leaning on the passenger door. Taking her seatbelt off to check, she looked first to make sure the doors had locked. Then she began to look between the door and the seat and feel underneath it to feel why it was so off kilter, when Angela pulled out of the parking lot and accelerated she looked outside and saw the road and the sky were beginning to change places. Screaming, she looked over and saw that Angela was fighting the steering wheel and trying to keep the truck from rapidly tipping over.

The sound of the crash was deafening. Temperance could feel the shudder as it slid on the uneven asphalt, could see the sparks from the metal on the asphalt and could smell the burnt rubber of the tires as they also slid. The truck came to an abrupt stop and time froze. The two of them were still strapped in, although Angela was holding onto the steering wheel to keep herself from falling over and Brennan was sitting mostly on the floor and the window jam. They looked at each other and said, "Are you okay?" simultaneously.

"I'm fine"

"Me too"

"What just happened?"

"I don't freaking know"

"I can't hold on like this for much longer, I'm going to unbutton my seatbelt and slide down to you, are you sure you're okay?" Angela's eyes were full of concern for Temperance.

"Aside from the fact that I can't stop shaking and I have no idea what is going on, I'm fine"

Angela unbuttoned her seatbelt and slid down to where Temperance was huddled, the two of them reaching for each other for a both looked out the windshield and saw that traffic from the opposite direction had halted, and there were people getting out of their cars, Angela peered out of the rear slider as best that she could, and saw that traffic on their side was stopped as well. The two of them heard male voices and felt someone climbing into and onto the truck. Holding each other tighter, they both looked up to the driver's side window and sighed in relief when Wendell's face appeared in the opening. Angela for one was never more happy to see that blonde head. She'd been toying with the idea of asking him out when Tempe told her Caroline dumped him, and right now she would have cheerfully jumped into his pocket, arms, pants wherever if he would only get them out of there.

"Angela, Tempe, girls are you okay?" he asked, a small smile on his lips. He could see that they didn't appear to be injured.

"Do we look okay?" Angela asked him right back. She hated that question. Why did people always ask that at the scene of an accident, hell no we're not okay she felt like saying.

Wendell gave her a full grin and said, "Hands up Angela, I'll haul you out." "Booth-pull my legs man, I've got Angela" he said over his shoulder. Booth and Goodman gave a good pull and he was able to get her halfway out. Temperance had pushed on her butt and was helping to give her leverage too; she also used the dashboard to brace her foot against. One more pull from Booth and Goodman and she was out, Wendell rotated her to where he could slide her over to the ground, and Fischer was there to catch her, for once not making a comment when he saw right up her shirt.

The sun was blocked from the window by the two large football players then Booth edged Wendell out of the way and he said, "Dude-we're both not going to fit, just hold on" as Booth kept trying to peer into the window with him. Sliding down after Angela, he quickly got out of Booth's way. Seeley looked inside the window and saw her standing on the passenger door and he was able to breathe again.

When she saw his face she stopped shaking momentarily. Looking up with wide frightened eyes, she said, "Booth get me the hell out of here!" in a higher than normal voice. Relief flooded his body as he said, "Don't call me Booth." She smiled and held up her hands as she too pushed off of the dashboard, once he grasped her forearms and started to pull her up she knew that she'd be okay. Goodman started to pull Booth's legs and the two of them slid right out. He turned and lowered her to the waiting arms of some of the players below.

She looked around at the chaos the accident had caused, the concern on the faces of these boys, almost men and took in the people who had been driving as well. She was glad that they were the only car that was involved, grabbing onto Booth when he got off the truck, she couldn't stop shaking again, and all she was worried about however was getting to work. There was no way the Sweets were going to let this slide. She'd been specifically banned from riding anywhere with Angela.

She and Booth headed over to where Angela was on the phone, alternately pacing and reaching out to touch Wendell. When she got off the phone she lost it and began to cry, which in turn ramped Temperance back up. She was thinking that if Angela had never come to get her, this would never have happened, it was all her fault, all of it, the pictures, the fighting, the breakups, she was willing to take the blame for everything just to make everything go back to the way it was. Booth was doing what he could to calm her down.

They both spoke to the police officer and neither one of them could tell what happened; they were talking, singing and then sliding. That's all they knew. Tempe had seen Fischer wandering around the truck looking at things and was wondering what he was looking for. A Cadillac Escalade pulled up and the biggest man Temperance had ever seen in real life got out. Walking straight to Angela she greeted him and threw herself into his arms. Wendell's face was crushed but he quickly hid the hurt as Angela introduced him to everyone. Tempe wondered if this was her boyfriend, she'd never been the type to settle with just one person, but Temperance had never even seen her with anyone, she was very secretive about her personal life unless she was trying to get a rise out of someone. This man was quite a bit older than her too.

Booth had been holding her the whole time when Grayson as his name turned out to be said he would take her and Angela to work. Hugging Booth, she told him she'd talk to him later and she thanked him for being there. The two girls got into the car and they headed off to the museum. Temperance asked if he was her boyfriend and Angela explained that he was her bodyguard. Once they arrived at the museum, they went to the employees room and were in there getting ready to change when Max burst into the room. Wearing jeans and a Northwestern sweatshirt, he'd clearly just come from home.

"Are you two okay?" He asked, enveloping them both into a hug, "I was worried, I heard about the accident from one of the interns, they were a couple of cars behind you apparently. Do you know what happened?" He was still holding each of them by the arm when he realized they needed to change first, letting Angela go, he turned to Tempe.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine Max, just a little bruise on my shoulder, nothing to worry about. I'm more worried about Angela, she thinks this is all her fault, and I'm also worried the Sweets are going to find out."

"Was she driving erratically?" he asked. He'd seen her occasionally in one or the other of her cars and she could be a tad reckless.

"No, we pulled out of the parking lot and the next thing I knew, we're on our side"

Angela came out of the changing room and Tempe went in, pausing to check her makeup on a napkin dispenser, Angela walked back over to Max. "I'm worried about Temper; she thinks this is her fault, for me picking her up and everything"

Max smiled and hugged her close, he thought of Angela like a daughter as well, "It's no one's fault Ange-I'm just glad you are both okay. Now you better hurry, they've been holding the lecture until you got here." In addition to being the head tour guide, she also gave lectures on various exhibits and methods of preservation to interested local historical societies by appointment.

Temperance came out and went over to the schedule; she was going to be in her least favorite wing this week. She really could care less about modern marvels aside from what they could bring to deciphering ancient information. She thought they had no beauty, no mystery, and no history. Sighing and telling Max goodbye she grabbed her things, put her phone on vibrate and headed to the south wing of the museum.

CHAPTER 51C

Booth and the rest of the team finished up practice and headed to the locker room to change, as he was leaving the shower, towel around his waist and his hair standing on end Coach Hodgins called him and Wendell and Fischer into his office.

"Guys, things are getting a little weird around here, fighting on campus, mysterious photographs, voice recordings and now a very bizarre wreck, all of which involve current or past girlfriends of you three. Is there something going on that the faculty needs to be aware of?" Although the most prestigious game of the year was coming up, he wasn't going into anything blind. If these guys were involved in something, he wanted to know now.

"No Sir" They said in unison. Smirking and crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned back on his desk and waited for them to continue. Thinking it would be Booth, his eyes settled on him. Surprisingly Fischer was the first one to speak, "Sir, it's like this, Booth and Payton broke up, Payton threw a little 'poor me pity party' and invited Caroline and Daisy to join her, being loyal coven members, they jumped on the idea of making our guy miserable for the rest of his life, however, being the totally hot BMOC that he is, he went out and found another girlfriend and that ruffled Payton's feathers even more. So she decided to ramp up the party and took some pictures, offered a little blackmail and may or may not have made a big mistake by recording something that most likely wasn't meant for any ears but the 4 that originally heard them," he paused long enough to take a deep breath, "then once the new girlfriend found out the old girlfriend was out for blood, she decided that my man's hot blooded lovin' was good enough to fight for and she stood her ground, well this knocked the wind out of poor little Payton's sails, the new girlfriend has an uber hot friend that may or may not have a hard on for Mr. Bray and she is trying her best to make sure that the new girlfriend is protected at all times and somehow her truck was rigged to wreck, and instead given the size of the tires and the lift and some other more technical stuff, it actually tipped over. Now, both of the girls are safe at work if the giant that showed up to get them is half as responsible as he is large…I believe we're all up to speed now, yes?" He finished looking at Wendell and Booth and then Coach Hodgins.

"Fischer that was a very brief and yet pretty accurate description of what's been going on actually" Booth said, looking at the coach, "And Coach, its all HS BS anyway, nobody is out for blood, Payton just needed to be knocked back a peg or two." Wendell just stood there silently, he was secretly hoping that he could have a chance with Angela, and maybe just by being there today, he'd have an opportunity now.

Coach Hodgins was skeptical, but he told the three of them that they needed to be careful and if anything else came up, he would be calling in AD Hacker and Monsignor Cullen. The three of them agreed and went to get dressed.

Wendell and Fischer left to go get in some ice time and Booth called home, "Pops, what's the plan for tonight?" he asked when Hank came on the phone.

"Nothing that I know of Shrimp, Jared and Howard are here playing video games, and I'm sitting in front of the fire. What did you have in mind?"

"In that case, I'm going to be a little later than usual tonight, Temperance and Angela were in a minor car accident today and I want to go to the museum to make sure that they get home okay, so I thought I'd just go hang there until their shifts are over." He didn't tell him that he still wasn't sure that Payton hadn't gone completely off the deep end over this.

"Sounds good Shrimp, just be careful yourself, it's supposed to get pretty cold tonight" He hung up and headed to the museum to wait for his girl. When he got there, he met Max on the steps and filled him on what little he'd seen and knew about the accident. Max clapped him on the shoulder and told him it was a good thing that he was doing. "How about I let you into the exhibit?" he asked him.

"Max, that would be great, I know I shouldn't be here, but I gotta know she's okay" Seeley told him.

"Alright kid, follow me" the two of them headed inside and Max took Seeley to the Modern Marvel wing and unlocked the employee entrance. "If she is where she's assigned, she'll be in the last room on the left side" he pointed down with a flashlight left at the entrance, "go get her Tiger" he told Seeley and locked the door behind him.

Armed with just the flashlight, Booth hurried down the hallway between exhibits. As he got closer he heard singing. Slowing down, he waited just inside the doorway, listening to her singing softly, he really had to strain to hear the words, once he understood what she was singing, he just stood there listening.

"Picture perfect memories, scattered all around the floor reaching for the phone cause, I can't fight it anymore and I wonder if I ever cross your mind for me it happens all the time it's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now and I don't know how I can do without, I just need you now."

He entered the room and saw her standing in the middle, cleaning some piece of machinery and she was swaying slightly to the music in her headphones. He knew there was no way to approach her without startling her, so he tried to brace himself for her reaction…

CHAPTER 52

She felt his presence before she saw him, so when he walked up behind her and took her in his arms, she didn't jump as he expected. Instead, she leaned back into him slightly and rested her head on his shoulder. She reached up and took the headphones off and draped it around her neck. He had one hand on her stomach, the other on her hip as he slowly spun her to face him. When she was facing him, he pressed her up against the machine that she was cleaning and she put her arms around his neck. Looking into each other's eyes, they were completely oblivious to their surroundings. Neither one of them said anything for a minute, just allowed the rest of the song to drift quietly from the forgotten headphones.

"Hi" he said quietly, still not taking his eyes from hers.

"I knew I'd see you tonight "she said back. She pulled him down slightly so that she could kiss him, and he dipped his head to meet her lips. Both sweet and gentle, the kiss was more a declaration that they were both relieved that she was okay, rather than an invitation to passion.

Stepping back he said, "I needed to know you were okay-I was worried" he said simply.

"I'm okay, no lasting issues, just curious what could have happened, are all the guys okay?" she asked, thinking how the entire team had rushed over. She'd never have believed it if she didn't see it firsthand. "Yeah, they're all good, we've gone to hundreds of rescues of fair maidens over the years, that was like our 3rd one yesterday alone" he joked with her.

"Well, no wonder everyone was so professional and prepared" she told him, rolling her eyes and turning back to the machine. "How's Wendell?" she asked off handedly. She could tell that he was interested in Angela, all the signs were there, even for a girl as naïve as she was where relationships were concerned.

"Ahh, Wendell, he's good. He'll torture himself for a while then he'll ask her out, it's his MO. Speaking of which how is Angela? This has got to be killing her."

"She's okay; she's worried about me, the truck, and her dad and mad at the same time. She's never had an accident before and was pretty shook up, we're both glad no one else was involved and no one got seriously hurt. Grayson brought us here and told her he'd be back to take her home, he offered me a ride, but I told him I was going home with you" she had moved onto the back of the machinery, so he couldn't see how her face burned with the slight double meaning in that sentence."

Hearing her say she was going home with him made him harden instantly as he imagined what that would really be like, and he wondered if she intended it to come out that way. "So, you need to go home and pack a bag?" he asked her mischievously.

Face still flushed, she said, "A bag? Why would I need to pack a bag?"

"Oh, so you sleep in the nude? That's a pleasant image. Since we wear uniforms to work, you could get away with not needing another one…you're right, you don't need a bag to come home with me. I'm sure we've got a spare toothbrush somewhere." He was enjoying this little back and forth she'd initiated.

Standing up abruptly, she twitched her lips at him and rolled her eyes. She came around to where he was leaning on a display podium. Walking slowly towards him she licked her bottom lip and stared into his eyes. As soon as she got next to him, she reached her hand down to his erection and lightly stroked the zipper of his pants, causing him to hiss his breath. She leaned in close and softly whispered, "I guess I really would need to go home with you for you to be sure how I sleep" she paused to stroke upward again, "however, I just meant you'd give me a ride home" she said the last word on an exhaled breath as her mouth dipped towards his collar and she nipped him slightly with her teeth, before abruptly releasing him and heading back to the machinery she was cleaning.

He stood frozen where he was, images of the two of them in a frenzied embrace flashing through his mind, as he frantically tried to remember how to breathe. His heart was frozen as most of the blood in his body was boiling and pooled in his boxer shorts currently. Finally, his flight or fight responses kicked in and he was able to breathe again, still hard as granite, he said in a very calm voice, "One of these days, I'll give you a ride you won't forget, but you're right tonight I just meant a ride to your home."

She giggled silently as she knelt behind the machine. Having discovered this side of herself and this part of their relationship was liberating and confusing and well, fun. She never thought that she'd be so bold as to do what she had done, but she enjoyed seeing his reaction, as well as they way she felt. Her breasts were tight and her stomach fluttered. Not to mention, she was just as hot as he was.

The two of them drifted into safer waters as she continued to clean. At a quarter to 9 they exited the exhibit room and headed down to the employee break room so she could change and get her things to go. Just as they got to the end of the hallway, he doused the flashlight and pulled her tightly into his embrace; ravishing her mouth savagely he pressed her up against the wall and picked her up so she was forced to wrap her legs around his hips. Thrusting slightly against their joined flush he moved to her neck and then up to her ear and back to her mouth, the whole time she was holding on to him with all the strength she possessed. Their tongues fought for and relinquished control repeatedly, they both moaned slightly when he tilted her hips into his slightly. Panting he let her down and moved to stand next to her, reaching for her hand, he said, "I'm sorry, I've been fighting doing that all night and I just lost."

Tempe was trying desperately to come back to earth and calm her body and mind at the same time when he spoke, squeezing his hand slightly she said, "Don't be sorry, it was my fault, I brought it up" and then she giggled when she realized the double meaning, he smirked in the darkness, the mood effectively broken.

"Nice Temperance, very nice talk for a lady" he said in a mock serious tone as he kissed her on the forehead and they exited the hallway holding hands. She couldn't stop giggling and was really enjoying herself when she got to the break room and Angela told her there the Sweets were waiting outside in the parking lot. Her giddy feeling vanished completely and she immediately came back to reality, she was a 16 year old foster child living with parents who were only that in name, in love with the hottest guy at school, confused about everything and was trying desperately to keep the web of deceit she was weaving as small as she could. Thanking Angela, she turned to Seeley and said, "I'm sorry Booth- I really am"

He smiled and told her it was fine, he'd pick her up for school in the morning and then pulled her into a hug and gave her cheek a kiss before he kissed Angela on the cheek and left. After changing her clothes, she and Angela walked out front, Grayson was waiting in the Escalade and came over to the two of them; he wrapped an arm around Angela and put his hand on Temperance's shoulder. He spoke to the two of them and then pulled them both in for a hug. Then placing his hand on the small of Angela's back, he walked he r to his car as Temperance headed over to the car where the Sweets were waiting impatiently.

"Who was that?" Rebecca immediately launched into her as she got buckled in.

"That was Grayson, Angela's bodyguard, she had some bad news today and he came to pick her up." She said resentfully. It was really none of their business and she wasn't about to tell them about the accident. Maybe not even for the rest of her life if she was lucky.

"Why did he touch you?" The way Lance said it made it seem dirty and inappropriate and it made Temperance's blood boil in fury, trying to speak in a modulated tone she responded, "because I'm her best friend and he wanted to make sure that I was okay too, that's what people who are concerned do" she added and instantly regretted it.

"Well, I don't approve of him touching you, best friend or not, I think I'm going to make some phone calls in the morning" Lance said, glancing over to Rebecca. "It's inappropriate behavior, regardless of the reason."

Temperance didn't know what to say, but decided she was in it already, might as well see it through, "He's been her bodyguard for 13 years and her dad was worried about her, and in turn, worried about me as I'm pretty close to her. Grayson was just sent to make sure that she was okay and there is nothing going on. He'll tell her dad that she's fine and then go back to the compound. There's no reason to make any phone calls, but I do have her dad's number here, if you'd like to call him?"

The last sentence was either going to diffuse the situation or push him totally over the edge so Temperance waited motionlessly in the back seat, hoping for the best.

"Well, maybe it won't be necessary to call, if he's not going to be around you anymore…it's just that your mother and I worry, you're a very naïve and impressionable child. This Angela girl is not the best influence to have in your life, she's a girl of very loose morals and for someone like you that may seem exciting, but it's not, it's a hard life and we just want you to be safe from people like that." He told her in his most 'we're smarter and better than you don't you forget it' voice.

"Yes Sir" she said back, "I appreciate your concern for my well being." She turned to look out the window and saw a white Explorer turn out of the parking lot and pull in a car length behind them. When they pulled into their driveway, the Explorer continued on out of sight. Going upstairs, she felt her phone vibrate and once she was safely in her room she read the text, "Still lookng 4ward 2 that 'ride' :P-g'nite luv u" he had sent her and she smiled and replied, "me 2" before turning it off and plugging the phone into the charger and getting ready for bed.


	2. Chapter 53 thru 62

CHAPTER 53

Booth picked Temperance up for school and told her that he had to do placement testing all day, so she would be on her own for lunch. She wasn't real happy about it, but told him that she'd eaten lunch alone before, she was sure she remembered how it went. Booth smiled and said, "Why don't you eat with Fischer and Wen?"

"No, that's okay, but..Um…well, would you mind if I used the Explorer?" she asked him shyly.

"I didn't know you had a driver's license," he said.

"Oh, I don't, I won't drive anywhere, I just thought maybe I could eat in here, catch up on some studying, that kind of thing. That's okay though, I can eat in the cafeteria."

"I don't mind, I won't be using it, so it's fine by me. Just make sure you lock it back up, my hockey bag is in here, and I'm going to Zams after school since you and Ange are going shopping. Jared and I haven't hung out for a while and Pops wants us to 'bond', since the only place we can do that is on the ice without wanting to kill each other, it seemed like the thing to do." He stopped talking as they sat at a red light and she asked, "Booth-what happened to your parents?"

"Tempe-someday I'll tell you, but not right now, okay?" he responded, turning to give her a sad smile. The light turned green and he turned back to the road and then said almost too quietly for her to hear, "Why are you calling me Booth?"

She turned to him with a puzzled look, and said "Seeley, I didn't mean to upset you, everybody else calls you Booth, it just seemed natural." She paused and then said, "Why does it bother you when I call you that?"

Seeley was silent for a long time, she was afraid she'd made him mad when he still hadn't spoken by the time they got to the school parking lot. Turning off the truck, he turned towards her and said, "Does anyone else call you Temper?"

"No, only Angela."

"Other than teachers, does anyone else call you Temperance?"

"No, only the Sweets call me that"

"That's why I don't like it when you call me Booth; everybody calls me that, but you and Pops. He calls me Shrimp; I wouldn't let anyone else call me that. I like that you call me Seeley, and I hate that name. So, when you say 'Booth'…"he faltered slightly and stopped speaking, then continued, "I feel like you think of me as just that, Booth. Not, Seeley. For you that's who I want to be-does that make sense?"

Tempe thought about what he said as they got out of the truck and headed up to the school, she didn't realize that it was that important, and she also didn't realize it until he asked that she thought of certain versions of her name as private to certain people. She certainly didn't like being called 'little one' or 'bone lady' by anyone but him. "I guess I never thought of it that way," she said "I just wanted to fit in with everybody else."

Pulling her in for a quick hug and kiss on the cheek he said, "you aren't like anyone else Bone Lady, remember that." The bell was ringing and they were heading off to their classes when he said, "Text or call me tonight, I'd like to know what your dress looks like, have fun!" he squeezed her hand and turned towards the main hall. Temperance turned towards her first class and wondered what shopping with Angela was going to be like. She was able to get through the rest of the day without any incident, in fact Payton wasn't even at school and the other two completely left her alone.

That afternoon Angela and Grayson picked Temperance up from the back parking lot. She'd been sitting in the stands watching the guys practice when she thought it would be fun to leave Seeley a little note in his truck, she still had his keys and he'd told her to just leave them on the seat, he'd get them after practice. Putting her attempt at a funny little note on his seat, she saw them pull into the parking lot and hurried over to get into the Escalade. Once again, the photographer was in a position to see her, but not be seen himself.

Driving to the main mall downtown, Angela asked her what kind of dress she thought she might like to look for. "I don't know Ange, I've never been to a formal dance, well a dance at all. How formal is formal? What's appropriate, what's in style? You've seen me outside of school, I have jeans and t-shirts, I don't know what to look for. All I know is it has to be blue. Seeley likes blue."

"Blue is easy, what'll be hard is length, cut, style, price, size, but rest assured, I've shopped with some of the best of the best, so you're in good hands." She smiled and Temperance leaned back in the seat, slightly nervous. She was so out of her element. Angela knew that and told her, "Don't worry Temper, you'll be the prettiest girl there, I promise"

"I'm not worried about that, I'm worried that I'll make a fool out of myself. What if I can't dance or I don't know a song or…" she stopped when Angela put her hand on her arm, "Don't worry about that stuff, even if you never leave the dance floor or never step on it, just enjoy the experience of going."

She and Angela got out and went into the mall to begin the dress search. Grayson had told them he'd be back to pick them up at 8, unless they were done sooner. They had roughly 5 hours to find the perfect dress, shoes and accessories. Angela knew it was out there, Temperance wasn't so sure.

However, 5 hours later, they not only had a beautiful dress, but shoes, a necklace, bracelet and earrings, new makeup and perfume. Temperance was definitely tired, but Angela was just kicking into gear when she got a text from Grayson that he was out front. Temperance had turned her phone off and as they loaded the multiple bags into the Escalade, she turned it back on.

She had two texts from Booth, the first said, "Having fun?" and the second, "Hey-I'm at Zams now, text when you get done-love BMOC"

As Grayson drove them back to the museum, Tempe called Booth.

"Hey Bone Lady" he answered almost completely out of breath.

"Why are you breathing so hard?" she asked.

"Jare and I have been doing line sprints and I was trying to get to the phone before it went to voice mail, I hoped that you would call."

"Are you still at Zam's?"

"We're just heading to change now, then on our way home. I had fun tonight; it's been a long time since I hung out with my brother. What about you? Find a dress?" Even if she didn't, he hoped that she had fun with Angela, she needed to go out more and do stuff that normal teenagers did.

"Yes, she and I had fun too, it was nice to get out, I've never done this with a friend before, the last time I went shopping for clothes was with my mom and that was a few years ago, the Sweets bring me stuff home, but I don't go with them"

"What does your dress look like?" he asked as he unlaced his skates and packed them away in his bag.

"It's an ice blue sheath with spaghetti straps. It's actually very simple, I have pretty silver shoes to go with it, and they're real sparkly" she told him in an excited little kid voice, he smiled just listening to her.

"Anything else?"

"Um, yeah, Angela insisted I get some jewelry too, she paid for it, I was tapped after the dress and shoes but she said that it they were perfect. I just hope I don't lose them, they're not cheap!"

He pictured what he thought she might look like and suppressed a sigh, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to wait until the dance. They talked a little more about the upcoming dance and his practice and then Temperance told him they were at the museum and she had to go, "I'll see you in the morning right?" she asked.

"Always little one, I'll be the guy in the white truck!" he laughed at her; she was so cute in her naiveté.

"Okay, well, g'night" she told him.

"You know what would make it a better night?" he asked suggestively.

"No…what would that be?"

"Remember the hallway yesterday? I would have liked to have finished that."

She looked at Angela and could see her friend was lost in her own world, face still flushed, she said quieter, "how would you have done that?"

"Why are you so quiet?" he asked all of a sudden realizing she may not be alone.

"Because Angela and Grayson are right here"

"Oh…well in that case, we'll save this conversation for another time, how's that?"

"Just tell me how you would have finished it; I don't have to say anything back"

"Well, Bone Lady, that's half the fun, besides Jared is on his way, so this isn't the best place for me either" he told her dejectedly.

"If you say so, maybe you'll just have to try harder next time"

"Believe me Tempe, if I was any harder I'd pound nails" he told her.

"Maybe I can help with that?" she knew if she kept going he wouldn't be able to resist her.

"Oh, what would you do?" The hell with Jared, he was a big boy.

"I could relieve the pressure? I've heard that there are things you can do, massage for instance, that may work? I'd hate for you to be uncomfortable"

"Massage? Like what kind? All over or dedicated to one spot?"

"I would think the most beneficial would be if it was applied to the one spot that needed he release the most, wouldn't you?"

She really had no idea what she was doing, but she was having a lot of fun. He on the other hand was trying desperately to get images of her hand on his cock and her mouth on his out of his mind. He adjusted his pants again as Jared got in the car and told her, "I think maybe we should talk about something else right now"

"Why? What would you like to talk about? Oh, did I tell you what I got for under my dress?" Temperance decided this was too good of an opportunity to waste.

"Uhhh no, what did you get?"

"Nothing"

"No—nothing?" he gulped.

"Nothing, it ruins the lines of the dress, at least that's what Angela said, maybe you could give me another opinion? I do have to agree with her though; there really isn't a lot of wiggle room in it"

All he could envision was her tiny lithe body in ice blue fabric, nothing underneath and his head began pounding along with the pulse of the blood that was turning his pants into friction central.

"Temperance-umm…I have to go now, Jared is here and I'm sure you're almost at the museum, right?" his voice was tight.

"Well, if you say so, I guess I'll just talk to you tomorrow"

"Okay Bone Lady, I love you."

"Oh one more thing"

"Yeah?" he asked almost afraid of the answer.

"I like the cotton boxers better than the silk ones, they stay hotter longer and I loved the feeling of that heat on my finger…"

"Good night Temperance"

"You too"

"Well, that was entertaining although a little vanilla" Angela told her when Grayson stopped the car.

"I've never done it before Ange! Give me a break" she told her, face burning.

"All it takes is practice, girlie; it's some of the most fun you can have on a phone!"

Angela told her to leave the bags with her, she was going to get dressed at the museum that night anyway, hugging her, she told her, "I had fun tonight Temper, we need to do this more often!"

"I wish we could Ange-thanks for the ride Grayson" she smiled at the man as she got out. He'd pulled in the back parking lot so she could walk through the building to the main entrance where the Sweets were waiting.

"My pleasure Miss. Temperance" he smiled back.

Tempe was in a great mood when she left the museum. In 9 days she would be attending her first dance, in 2 days her boyfriend would be playing for the HS state championship and in 11 days she would be on her own for an entire week. She was having a great night. It turned out it was the last one she had for a while...

CHAPTER 54

Booth went home and he and Jared unloaded their hockey stuff and then Jared went inside to get ready for bed. Seeley stayed outside and was sitting on the front porch when a recognizable purple Audi pulled up and parked up front. Sitting in the shadows, he watched Payton get out of the truck and start up the walkway before he said, "What do you want Payton?"

Startled she stepped back before regaining her composure she said, "I came over to bring some of your stuff that you left at my house. I've got a couple of jerseys, some socks, some CD's and a couple of other things. I figured there was no reason for me to keep them anymore, and you might want them." She was holding a plastic grocery bag and she handed it towards him. He got off the porch swing and walked down to the walkway, "thanks, I'll go through and get your stuff too" he told her. She started to turn and he said, "It didn't have to be this way Payton, you know that right?"

Payton stopped and looked up at the night sky, she turned around and said, "I didn't know how it was supposed to go Booth, I never thought that it would happen. I thought we were happy. I wish that I had known before all of this happened what it was that changed your mind, I would have done anything to make it all go away. Even after everything else that's gone on, I didn't mean for it to get so out of hand." Her voice broke and she looked down and started to cry, her hand on her face to try and hide the tears. Feeling nostalgic and not understanding why he did it, Booth went over and hugged her. "It was bound to happen sooner or later Payton; I think we were both just unprepared for it to happen sooner." He was holding her close as he rubbed her back, he put the bag down and stepped away from her, "I have to ask, did you have something to do with the accident the other day?" he was bent down to look her in the eyes.

"No, I really didn't know anything about it until Fischer told Daisy and then she told me." She looked at him with wide, innocent eyes. "I'd never really hurt her you know, I was just mad, I just wanted to scare her, that's all." She put her hand on his arm and stepped in closer to stand almost totally within his arms, she said, "I'm going to let you be happy Booth, and I'm sorry" she reached up to kiss his cheek and twisted at the last second and landed on his mouth. Lingering a second longer than he should have, Booth stepped back and released her, bent down to pick up the bag and told her that he appreciated her bringing him his things and that he was glad it was all over.

Payton smiled sadly and quietly said goodbye, she headed back down the walk and to her car. Getting in she started it up and drove away, dialed the number and then said, "Did you get that?"

"Yeah, that was perfect, it will look really good with the rest of them, and I'll have all of it for you tomorrow afternoon. Don't forget my money."

"You'll have it, just make sure the time/date and clarity is perfect" she finished before turning the loudspeaker off of her cell phone.

Booth watched her drive away and looked inside the bag, he saw a little league jersey and his freshman football jersey, a couple of old mixed CD's he'd made for her and a couple of ticket stubs to movies. He didn't remember even seeing the movies, so those must have been the ones where he spent most of his time with his hand in her pants or hers in his. At the bottom of the bag was a photo of the 6 of them at the lake, it was taken at the end of their freshman year. The girls were all in skimpy bathing suits and the guys in beach shorts, the girls on their shoulders, the sunset behind them along with the bonfire.

That was the first night they spent together. He had no idea what he was doing, and although Payton had a little more experience, she was still hesitant. He couldn't help but smile at how awkward it had all been. He finished in record time and she was less than impressed. Fast forward to just a few weeks ago, and he saw how repetitious it had truly become. He'd had to work to get hard with Payton, even she commented on how it took almost everything she had, tongue, hands, mouth just to get him up sometimes. All he could think of was how quickly he wished it could be over.

However, thinking of Temperance and he was instantly hard, his cock throbbing almost painfully. She could kiss his cheek and he'd be miserable for hours or so it seemed. In fact, he pictured her light blue eyes and that incredible smile and he was wishing he wasn't standing the cold on his front walk. Smiling ruefully to himself he went inside. Looking at the clock, he saw that it was closing in on 11, but maybe she'd be awake. Given the tent in his pants, he was going to be up for awhile himself, maybe he could tease her into playing for a few minutes.

Calling the radio station, he requested a song and Gordon Gordon actually snorted at the song title, he told him he'd see if he could get it in as one of the last songs…

OKAY ALL YOU LATE NIGHT LOVERS THIS ONE IS FOR YOU GORDON GORDONS LAST REQUEST OF THE NIGHT FROM THE BMOC TO THE BONE LADY…

"I love myself I want you to love me When I feel down I want you above me I search myself I want you to find me I forget myself I want you to remind me I don't want anybody else When I think about you I touch myself Ooh I don't want anybody else"

When the opening strains of the song came on, Booth actually laughed out loud and could only hope she was listening. His phone chirped and he looked down to see a text, "you've got to be kidding me~ANGEL~"

That made him laugh even harder. In fact, he was no longer thinking about taking care of himself, instead he was trying to stop giggling at the song he'd chosen. Lying back in his bed he wiped the tears out of his eyes and was about to turn the radio off when he got a shock.

OKAY LAST ONE I PROMISE NORMALLY GORDON GORDON DOESN'T CONDONE THIS KIND OF BEHAVIOUR BUT AS THIS WAS A THIRD PARTY REQUEST I'VE GOT TO GET THIS OUT ON THE AIRWAVES…STRAP THE SAFETY FEATURES ON AND HOLD ON TIGHT! FROM THE BONE LADY VIA ANGEL TO THE BMOC

"Ooh baby I love the way you make me feel it slows down time come in my bedroom and turn off the lights you whisper softly in my ear makes me unwind the way you touch me lets me know you're mine I'd rather be with you because I love the way you scream my name and there's no other man that gives me what I want and makes me feel this way  
I'd rather be with you because you hustle hard to take care of me I'd rather be with you  
Boy I'd rather be with you"

Booth sat straight up on the edge of his bed and grabbed for his phone as it began to chirp towards the end of the song.

"Feelng a litle frisky?" she texted to him.

"A little, do u mind?"

"Depends on U"

"Me?"

"Yeah-U alone?"

"Yes"

"Close ur eyes"

"how can I text w/my eyes closed?"

"good point-don't close ur eyes"

"okay-now what?"

"imagine…my mouth on urs, tongue tasting u, hand down chest 2 cock, fingernail on head, lightly stroking, slide hand n2 boxers, grasp hard, stroke, grasp soft, stroke, pull boxers down slightly, mouth trails kisses down chest to head, light lick, small nip, grasp, stroke and mouth back to urs"

Booth dropped his phone on the bed after reading her latest text and got up to lock his door. He was completely stunned, he would never have imagined that she even knew what she was talking about, let alone was good enough for that. His dick was so hard he could've cut glass. Hearing the phone chirp again, he looked down to read, "Still there? : P"

Booth wasn't sure what to say, he wanted to ask how she could possibly do that, but he also wanted to play along, however, he still was trying to keep in mind she was only 16. His reply was probably less than what she expected, "Is this Temperance?"

"LOL-yes BMOC-who else?"

Still not convinced, he texted back, "What's the dog's name?"

"BOOTH" came right back, followed with, "what's a matter, dn't want 2 play now?"

"Is someone helping u?" he asked her.

"S- I'm 16 not 5 "

"U surprised me is all"

"Want me 2 stop?"

"Never"

"Lean back"

"Ok, leaning"

"Me in ur lap, ur hands on hips, my mouth on urs, pull ur head to breasts, u lick nipple, slight nip, soothing kiss, back 2 my mouth, arch my back, shift hips, press against chest, hair tickles your chest, move 2 lay bside u, slide hand back down on u, stroke, thumb over head, thumb 2 my lips, lips 2 urs, slide back over ur hips, rock back & forth, wet, friction, remv panties…ur turn"

Booth's mouth was dry and the room was becoming smaller and smaller. He was so desperate to call her and hear her describe these things to him, he was imagining this and so much more. Never in the four years that he'd been with Payton had anything turned him on more. Shucking his jeans and shirt, he lay back on the bed and took himself into his palm. Texting her back, "Can't compete-have 2 complete!"

" guess u shldn't start what u can't finish"

"I'll finish it-just not the way I want"

"how do u want?"

"U know"

"I do?"

"U do-want to skip school tomorrow?"

"I gues so-y?"

"Just for fun"

"Okay-pick me up at school in parking lot-will have Angel call school k?"

"K-g'nite BL"

"g'nite BMOC"

Chapter 55

After texting furiously and so very out of character for her the night before, Temperance was incredibly nervous to see Seeley in person. When she arrived at school, she put her bag into her locker and grabbing her stashed hoody, she headed to the parking lot to meet him. Seeing his truck in the lot, she headed straight to it and climbed into the passenger seat. Her face was flushed and her voice broke slightly when she said, "good morning."

"Good morning to you too Missy, want to tell me what got into you last night?" his voice was teasing but his eyes were serious.

"Well…Um…Angela told me that I should see what you do if I sent you something provocative and different from what I normally would"

"I was very surprised and excited and I gotta tell you-somewhat shocked that you would know some of that stuff."

"Oh I didn't, in fact I borrowed most of it from a book that Angela loaned me. I guess I was just trying something different. I'm not sure it was right though, I mean it felt right for a little while, but I also felt like it stripped away some of the mystery." Still out of her element, she couldn't believe they were talking about it.

Pulling away from the curb, Booth was silent. "Are you mad?" she asked quietly.

"No, not mad-I just don't think that you should change just to compete with Payton or the idea of her. I love you the way you are. Don't get me wrong, I'm a guy so from that point of view, it was awesome, but it was really more like Angela than you."

"Well, I'm not a kid, I do know what sex is" she said somewhat defensively.

"Yeah, but sex and love aren't the same thing" he told her, "It's okay little one, I know what you were doing, but I'd rather you be you, does that make sense?"

Smiling in relief, she said, "Perfect sense-now, what are we doing today?"

"How about breakfast at the diner to start, and then we can decide from there? I have to be back for practice today since we are going to McCandless tomorrow, so I've got until 2:30, what time do you work today?"

"Tonight I'm working 3 to close, so you can drop me off at the museum on your way back to school?"

"Works for me kid" he said pulling into the diner.

Tempe was nervous, this was the 2nd time in two weeks she'd skipped school. As much as she had wanted to do this today her stomach was in knots. She could only imagine what the Sweets were going to do to her if they found out. She had to walk a fine line with CPS anyway. Lost in thought, she didn't realize that they had been stopped and sitting in the parking lot and he was looking at her.

"Whatcha thinking about Bone Lady? You're awful quiet" Seeley figured she was nervous about skipping classes today.

"Just thinking about playing hooky-I'm afraid I'm going to be too nervous to have fun" she said.

"Do you want to go back to school? We have time-you would only be a little late for first block."

She'd been sitting there twisting her hands in her lap and she looked up to say sheepishly, "would you mind? I could call Angela to see if she's already called for me? I'm sorry Seeley, it's just with last night and this, I think I'm trying to do too much too soon."

"No problem, kid-call Angela and I'll get you back to school" he started the truck and pulled out of the diner parking lot.

"Angela?"

"Yes, Sweetie?"

"Have you called the school yet?"

"I was just about to, why?"

"Would you just tell them that I'm going to be late instead? I've decided to go to school after all."

"Temper, are you okay?" Angela was concerned, she was so quiet. "Is Booth there? Do you need to talk?"

"Yes, he is, and I'm okay-I'll talk to you later Angela, okay? And thanks."

"Anytime Temper" Angela hung up and called the school to tell them that she would be late, hanging up she wondered if things were going as well as they seemed. Temperance was being thrust into an unfamiliar environment rather suddenly and maybe she wasn't handling it as well as she could. Angela decided to try and talk to her at work tonight.

Booth drove them back to the school and dropped her off in front, "Are you going to stay?" she asked.

"Yes, I'll just park in the back and come in that way-I'll see you at lunch" he leaned over and kissed her cheek as she got out.

"Thank you Seeley, and I'm sorry."

"There is nothing to apologize for Tempe, don't worry about it"

Temperance got out of the truck and headed to the office to check in and get her tardy slip for first block. As she headed down the empty hallway to get her books she still couldn't shake the nervous feeling she had all morning. She thought it was because of potentially skipping, but maybe it was more. Getting her books she headed off to class hoping the feeling would go away.

Booth, on the other hand was nervous for another reason. He was trying to focus on the game on Friday and make it his number one priority, but he was also worried about Temperance. She'd seemed different lately, still playful but more determined to 'fit in'. Maybe it was time that he talked to Angela. He didn't want Tempe to be anyone that she wasn't.

Booth headed to class and ducked into the back with as little interruption as he could. The whole school was preparing not only for the big football game tomorrow, but also for the end of quarter tests and grading period. Most of the teachers were getting last minute papers graded and assigning chapters and were pretty lenient towards the seniors and the football players, so Booth's late entrance wasn't even acknowledged.

That afternoon when she was heading to her locker before lunch Temperance was stopped in the hall by the same girl who had rushed to get someone to help the day of the fights. "Hi Temperance, um I was wondering if you wanted to join us for lunch today?"

Surprised and unsure what to say the girl continued, "I'm Alana? We have Biology together?"

"Oh I know Alana-I was just a little surprised, most kids here don't talk to me, is this a trick?" Tempe looked around the hallway which was filling up with students.

"No trick" she smiled, "I just know that you've had a hard time lately and I thought you could use a friend, even a freshman friend."She was sincere in her offer but didn't want to beg.

"Thank you Alana, I'd like that, maybe tomorrow? I'm meeting Seeley today and he'll be in McCandless tomorrow, is that okay?" she was glad that she'd been invited, but was unsure about declining her first friendly overture.

"Sure-that makes sense! I'll see you in Biology then." With a smile and a wave Alana headed towards her own locker. Feeling lighter than she had all day, Temperance headed on to her locker which was completely obscured by three very large football players.

"There she is, Miss America" Fischer trilled as she approached, his arms outstretched and down on one knee. Blushing at his antics, she walked up to her locker. Booth slapped Fischer on the back of his head and stepped around his still kneeling form to hug her.

"What's going on?" she asked giggling when he picked her up and set her down on the other side of Fischer.

"Nothing bad Tempe-we were just going to the diner for lunch today and these two wanted to tag along, is that okay with you?"

"Oh! That sounds fun!" She said. The four of them headed out and when they got to the parking lot, Fischer called "shotgun" and jumped into the front seat. Booth said, "I don't think so Colin, backseat buddy." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder towards where Wendell and Tempe were getting in. "That's okay Seeley, he called it." She said buckling in. Glowering at his friend who was smiling smugly, Booth got into the car and they took off for the diner.

CHAPTER 56

When they left the parking lot, Caroline, Daisy and Payton got into Payton's car and left as well, "Are you ready for tomorrow?" Caroline asked Payton.

"Yes, I should have all the stuff this afternoon and will drop it off in the overnight slot after school. If everything goes to plan, it should be delivered on Friday, by this time on Saturday they'll be broken up or well on their way, and I'll swoop in and pick up the pieces." She said.

"Are we sure this is still necessary?" Daisy piped up from the backseat. She and Fischer and been talking and he told her that Temperance was a really nice girl and that Payton was doing was ridiculous. "Yes, that girl and every other wanna be at this school needs to know that messing with me is the wrong thing to do."

"What if we get caught?" Daisy asked.

"We won't and even if we did, there is no proof that it we did anything. If anything, Roxie and that other kid would be the ones in trouble, she spiked his drink and he got all the photo's."

"Except for the cell phones" Daisy said quietly. Turning to look at her Caroline said, "We deleted all of those pictures and I'm sure Booth deleted his, he wouldn't have wanted his princess to see that" Caroline was still very hurt over what she perceived was Wendell's rejection of her. She felt sure that he would have supported her no matter what; it wasn't even like he was that close to all of them until the last couple of years anyway.

Daisy was silent in the backseat; she thought a few harmless pranks and photos was one thing, but the lengths that Payton was going to was a little scary in her opinion.

Payton drove to the post office to purchase the overnight delivery envelopes and then they were going to get lunch, "Where should we eat ladies?" She asked.

The other two, lost in their own thoughts told her they didn't care and to just pick somewhere. Payton pulled into the diner parking lot, she really disliked this place but Seeley loved it. Seeing the four of them sitting at a table by the window, Payton was furious but that quickly passed as she devised a plan. Entering the diner she and the other two girls sat down and placed their orders. Before the waitress left Payton pulled her aside and whispered in her ear and nodded to the group of football players at the other table. Smiling broadly the waitress nodded and told her it would be taken care of.

Meanwhile, the guys were keeping Temperance in a constant state of giggles as they each told story after story about Seeley. Some were failed business attempts like the ice cold lemon water fiasco or sport mishaps. For his part, Booth mostly kept quiet, smiling and blushing occasionally, but never really protesting his innocence. He was mostly watching Temperance's sparkling eyes and happy face. He'd noticed Payton and her friends come in and was tensely hoping to avoid a confrontation. Wendell had also seen them and although still enjoying the conversation he was transfixed with Caroline. Still hurt he was as confused as he could be, seeing her brought up a rush of emotion but he still also felt like he may want to try for Angela. She seemed to like him and he thought he might have a slight chance with her.

Booth looked at his watch and motioned the waitress over, asking her for the check. The guys and Temper were all pulling out cash and taking last second drinks when the waitress came back over and told him that the tab had been taken care of. "By who?" Booth asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm sorry Sir, they didn't leave a name, just paid the bill." She shrugged and walked away. Maneuvering Tempe into the middle of the pack Wendell and Booth had hoped to get out without incident. As they left Daisy squealed, "Fischer!"

He turned and said, "Daisy! Fancy seeing you here." She jumped up and gave him a hug and a kiss. Disentangling himself from her embrace he tipped an invisible hat to the rest of them and said, "Ladies". He pinched Daisy on the butt and winked as he left. Wendell, Booth and Tempe were waiting outside and Tempe said, "Shotgun" just as he came up to them. All three started laughing at the shocked expression on his face as he said, "touché."

Driving back to school Booth wondered about Payton's reasons for being at the diner and if she was the one that paid the bill. Deciding he wasn't going to dwell on it, he reached for Tempe's hand for the remainder of the trip back to school. She was turned slightly in her seat to chat with the boys in the back seat and squeezed his fingers back absently stroking the back of his hand with her thumb.

Once they got to the school the two guys jumped out and told Seeley that they'd see him at practice. Hugging Tempe close he said, "Did you have fun?"

"Yes Seeley, I had a great time, I really like Wendell and Fischer and they made me feel really comfortable, thank you for letting me go!"

"It was more like I let them tag along with us" he told her with a wide grin. "I've got to go to practice, but I'll see you after work tonight, if that's okay?"

"Sure, I'll see you then, have fun at practice and thank you-for everything" She shyly reached up and kissed his lips and then gave him a hug. "You're welcome Bone Lady." He watched her walk up to the school and then headed for the gym.

Before he went in, he sent a text, "Angel-We need to talk-Work tonight? BMOC"

Getting dressed out and ready for practice he was half listening for a response, just before heading out to the field and turning his phone off, it chirped, " work now-very busy-field trip day-talk tonight?~ANGEL~"

Sending back, "yes" he turned his phone off and stored it in his locker, then headed out to join his teammates.

Temperance headed straight to biology and took her seat. She was glad that she had decided to come to class today; she'd enjoyed hanging out with Booth's friends at lunch very much. Even seeing Payton and her friends wasn't as bad as she had expected it to be. Alana came over and asked if she could sit next to her and Temperance smiled and let her know that it was okay.

The two of them chatted the few minutes before class started. Temperance learned that Alana had recently moved from Idaho at the beginning of the year with her mom and her 4 pets. "It's a zoo at our house, I come to school for the peace and quiet!" they both laughed and then faced forward as the teacher came in.

Payton and the other two girls were sitting up front as usual and appeared to be taking notes and behaving like model students. During the class Alana and Tempe still chatted thru notes. Tempe found that she was enjoying the sensation of having a friend and even as suddenly as she had appeared Temperance felt like maybe it was supposed to be. She was replying to something Alana had written on the note when the bell rang, "I'll tell you tomorrow at lunch?" she told her pointing to the note.

"Okay" Alana smiled, "See you tomorrow!" Tempe started to gather her things when Payton deliberately walked by her desk, the rest of the kids left in the classroom tensed as one, but all she said was, "Have a good weekend Tempe" and then continued on her way.

CHAPTER 57

Tempe furrowed her brow and wondered about the weird exchange before dismissing it as another one of Paytons' attempts to unsettle her. She headed to her locker to drop off her books and got her jacket before going to the bus.

She never even noticed that Booth was missing from her locker. She'd moved the hoody and jersey aside to get her books and took for granted that he would be in the pile of clothes.

Feeling good she skipped out of the school and headed towards the bus lot to get a ride to work. Passing by the boys practicing she yelled, "GO BOOTH!" and then immediately blushed. Turning at her yell Fischer shouted, "OW OW BABEE!" and that made her laugh. Waving at him she continued on, a loud wolf whistle made her turn her head and Wendell and Booth were waving from the end zone closest to her. She angled over and Booth hollered, "See you tonight!" waving to show she heard him, she continued on and the two boys turned back to the field. Tempe took her time going to the bus stop, she really liked watching them play and practice. Even before she'd become friends with all of them she'd enjoyed watching.

Getting onto the bus, she turned her phone on and had a text message waiting, "Hey girlie-HowZ thingZ? Better?-ZMAN"

"Yes" she texted back, "much better! Thanx Z!"

"Workin' tonight, C U there?"

"Yes, OMW"

"Cool, break 7?"

"Okay C U!"

"U 2-ZMAN"

She texted Angela to tell her she was on her way too and that she didn't think last nights experiment was a success. Angela called her back and said, "yeah-I figured, Studly wants to talk to me tonight and I'm sure he'll tell me to leave your love life alone, it's okay, it was a failed attempt, learn and move on right?" She said laughing, "I hope he went easy on you today?"

"Yeah, I went to lunch with him and Wendell and Fischer, it was so much fun! Payton and her friends were there and nothing happened! That was the best part I think, until biology when she said, 'Have a nice weekend' to me, I have no idea what that was about though."

"Me neither, she's probably up to something again, she won't jeopardize the road trip though, so I wouldn't worry too much."

"You're probably right" she then told her about her new friend, Alana and Angela was excited to hear that she was coming out of her shell a little, all she needed was a little push. The girls hung up when the museum came into view, Angela was off work at 3:30 but would be coming back to talk to Booth later on. Getting off the bus, it had started to rain and the wind was strong, Tempe hurried inside and went to the break room.

Angela was texting someone else when she got in and began to change into her uniform. "I was just telling Studly that I would be back at 7 or so for my talking to and that he would be able to come straight in here, Russ is working tonight, so I'll let him know."

"Thanks Angela-it means a lot to us both" she hugged her friend and then squeezed her hand before heading off to the 2nd floor to clean a room in the oriental exhibits.

Angela smiled and left, she was meeting her dad and his mechanic to discuss the truck. They hadn't been able to find anything majorly damaged that would cause it to tip over on their initial inspection, but we're doing an in depth check today, so she was going to get the results. Her dad was still just glad that she and Temperance were okay. He'd also sent the football team autographed CD's and had anonymously donated to the sports program to pay for their expenses on the trip to and from McCandless. He'd asked the coaches to just put it all on his expense log, he wanted the boys to be able to eat whatever and however much they wanted, as well as be able to spend their own money on silly trinkets from the game rather than worrying about their money. The school and athletic department were very thankful and had assured him that the CD's were very much appreciated.

Later that evening Temperance had met Zack in the break room and the two of them were sitting close to each other, their heads bent down slightly as they watched an episode of Futurama on his cell phone. They were sharing a set of headphones and were laughing when Seeley walked in. He looked around and hadn't seen anyone at first, but then heard her laugh. He looked to his left and saw the two of them, their backs to the door and he froze at the intimacy of the scene unfolded. Zack had his arm around her chair and was holding the phone between the two of them. Angela came in right behind Booth and bumped into him as he was standing just inside the door. Seeing what she was looking at she said, "Oh for crying out loud" and walked around him. Going over to the other two she thumped the both on the head and said, "Hey! Knock it off!-Brennan, your boyfriend is here."

Temperance turned and saw him standing by the door, "Hi Seeley, we were watching Futurama, come on in" she gestured to where they were.

Still hesitant, Booth was trying very hard to control the jealousy that rolled through his body, "hey babe" he kissed her when he came over to where they were sitting. "Addy." He nodded.

"Booth" Zack nodded back, "Ready for the game tomorrow?"

"I think so; we've been watching hi-light videos and practicing all week."

"Good, you guys are representing our district, so you'd better win! A bunch of us driving up tomorrow morning to catch the game should be fun."

"I didn't know that," Tempe said looking at Zack and wishing she could go.

'Yeah, do you want to go? You too Angel?"

"No thanks, Junior-besides I'd rather fly than ride with the boy band, but thanks for asking" Angela was watching the exchange with her eyes rolling and arms crossed over her chest.

"Oh thanks, Z but I can't I have to work and I know my parents would freak." She turned to Booth and said, "I'm upstairs in the Orient, come see me before you leave?" He just nodded and kissed her cheek.

Zack said, "Yeah, I gotta get back to work too, walk you?"

"Sure" She said turning to go.

"Good luck Booth" Zack said as he escorted his girlfriend to her exhibit.

Angela saw Seeley clench his hands and put her hand on his arm, "Hold it Studly. She's not interested in Zack and although he's being a total wang by exploiting her naiveté, she's still yours, so let's get the butt chewing out of the way and I'll take you up there."

Turning to her he said, "I know Angela, you're right, it still doesn't make it any easier. I know she doesn't do it on purpose and I know that she sees him as just a friend, but it's still annoying and I'm not going to chew you out. I just wanted to ask what happened?" he sat down and indicated she should do the same.

"Well honestly, I was as surprised as you were, we had told me that she was curious about some stuff and she knew you were more experienced and she wondered if I might have some ideas on how she could flirt with you more like you were used to, rather than like a little kid would. I told her about this book that was written in all text speak and loaned it to her. I told her to give it a shot and either she'd like it or she wouldn't, I guess she found a passage or two she liked?" She smiled to indicate that the explanation for Temperance's text session was as bad as he was imagining.

"It was something; I just don't want her to be anything she isn't. I want her to be the girl I first met. I like that she's not experienced and everything is fresh and new for her. I like you Angela, but don't want her to be _you_ either, does that make sense?"

"It does Boothy and I like that about her too, she always reminds me of what is really out there, I don't know much about what happened before the Sweets, except that her family was pretty close. She had some friends but mostly it was her and her brother. I'm glad she has you now. Did she tell you that she lunch plans with a girl at school tomorrow? She's pretty excited about it. Say's the girl approached her today, Alana, I think she said her name was."

"No, she didn't mention it." It kind of bothered him that she didn't mention it. He kept talking to Angela for another couple of minutes but his heart wasn't really in it. He and Angela headed to the orient exhibit area so he could spend a few minutes with her. She was wisely keeping her mouth shut. Even she could see that Booth was having a hard time, Temperance was normally a very reserved girl but like anyone on a deserted island, a little taste of freedom goes a long way.

For his part, Seeley just tried to keep in mind that she just wanted the big picture. He only hoped that it wouldn't be at the expense of what they had together. He felt like he was overreacting, but then at the same time, felt like he wasn't being reactive enough.

CHAPTER 58

When they entered the hallway to the exhibits Angela stopped him briefly and said, "Hang in there kid, Temper is a new player in an old game, okay?"

Booth thanked her and gave her a hug and then headed down the now familiar back hallways. She was in the smallest room in the largest display; it was a weapon storage room that had armor, swords and other items not necessary for the exhibit as it was currently set up.

Just as he started to say hello she turned around and saw him there, "OH CRAP-oh Booth, I mean Seeley, you scared me!" she smiled at him broadly and put her hand to her heart.

"Oops, I wasn't trying to," he forced a smile of his own, he'd heard the 'Booth' slip, realizing it was a reflex he tried to get past the weird feeling he was suddenly having. All day long there'd been a nagging feeling of something that was going to happen, but he'd chalked it up to nerves for the game. Seeing her with Zack and the little changes in her made him wonder if it wasn't something else entirely.

"That's okay" she said brightly as she weaved her way through the display cases to where he was, "I missed you! I'm so glad you came by tonight." She stepped into the circle of his arms and put her head on his chest. She sighed and hugged him tight. He hugged her back and felt like his heart was expanding throughout his entire chest cavity. "I missed you too Bone Lady" he said back softly.

She pulled back and looked up at him, still holding onto his trim waist, "Are you nervous about tomorrow? Excited?"

He said "yes, both and kind of anxious, I've never not wanted to go somewhere I wanted to go before."

Temperance crooked her eyebrow and said, "I'm sorry, huh?"

Looking behind him for something to sit on, he spied a crate labled, 'VASE', sitting on it he pulled her into his embrace and held her close, "I mean, I want to go to that game bad, I've wanted to go since I started playing football over 12 years ago, I can't wait to hear the whistle to start the game, the noise from the crowd, the smell of the grass, I want to play every down. This is essentially my last football game, I'm not going to play in college, but, I also am going to miss lunch with you, seeing you in the halls, hearing your voice, just you."

Again, Tempe crooked her eyebrow and said, "No offense Seeley, but that's silly. This is a huge deal for you, it's the opportunity of a lifetime, and you've literally worked your entire life for this game! You shouldn't be worrying about me at all. I'm nothing. I'm going to go to school, go to work and then go home. I just want you to concentrate on the game! Forget about me, I'll be here when you get back." She leaned up and kissed his lips, and then continued, "I have to work on Saturday, when you wake up why don't you come over? I get off at 6."

"Yeah, I can do that and it's too bad that you and Ange and Max can't come to watch, do you think you could…nah…that would never work" he trailed off.

"What? Tell them I have overnight museum training?" she giggled.

"Guess not" he grabbed her and said, "So who is this friend you're having lunch with tomorrow?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you! Her name is Alana and she's a freshman in my biology class" and she was off and running telling him about the encounter before lunch and during class today with her new friend.

"That sounds like fun, she sounds pretty cool. I'll try and call you before the game tomorrow okay?" he'd looked at his watch and saw that it was closing in on 8:30 and he still had to get home and get packed up, they would be leaving at 9 in the morning for the drive to McCandless. They'd decided to not leave as early as 6, they wanted the boys to be able to get in a practice, relax and be ready for the game at 5. Tempe was disappointed that he had to leave, but she knew that it was important, "How are you getting home tonight?" he asked.

Smiling a little wickedly, she said, "Oh, Z-man is taking me" she turned away at the last second so he wouldn't see her smile.

"Z-man huh?" he said reaching out to grasp her belt loop. Pulling her back to him he lightly brushed her bangs out of her face and leaned in closer to her. He put his hands on her hips and she put hers on his shoulders. Seeley dipped his head and lightly traced the hollow of her throat with his tongue, moving his mouth up he nuzzled her neck to her earlobe and then kissed her. As soon as his tongue touched her throat she moaned quietly and melted into him. His tongue and hers sparred for dominance briefly before he slowed the kiss and then pulled away. Her lips were swollen from the kiss and her eyes were half lidded s she looked at him, "Does Z-man make you feel like that?" he asked throatily moving back to the hollow of her throat. "N…N…No" she sighed, "only you."

"Good" he growled and kissed her again before pulling her in for a hug. "I love you Temperance, I hope you know that" he whispered as he held her.

"I know Seeley, I know" she said back, her lips curved in a smile.

The two of them had managed to forget that the time marches on and the clock was still ticking so when her alarm went off, she saw that it was 8:45 and time to go. They left the exhibit and he walked her to the break room. Kissing her cheek he said, "I'll call you tomorrow and I'll see you Saturday okay?"

"Yes Seely, good luck and have fun tomorrow!" she told him as he left. Zack came out of the men's room as she was gathering up her things and said, "Need a ride kid?"

"No thanks Z, my parents should be outside" He told her okay and he'd see her tomorrow and left. Temperance walked outside and got into the car with Lance, he asked her to be quiet going in as Rebecca had a headache, but other than that said nothing else to her.

CHAPTER 58B

Payton met him outside the drug store and passed him the $300 in $20 dollar bills, he handed her three manila envelopes and told her exactly what each one of them had inside. "There are 3DVD's of the game footage, and the wreck, plus as a bonus I added the stuff from the Explorer that you have on the recorder. There are over 50 stills of various times they've been together, all of them clearly date and time stamped. There is also one each of the cell phone party picture, the church shot with you and the front walk kiss with you." Fingering the $20 bills in his hand, he said, "I hope that's what you had in mind?"

Payton was nobody's fool; she wasn't going to let him leave before verifying the contents, looking through the pictures while he spoke. "These are perfect!" she told him. Once he left, she pulled Booth out of a bag and tucked the photo of Tempe and Seeley on the carousel under his collar and then put him and one of the envelopes into an overnight delivery mailing envelope. All of them pre-addressed, she simply dropped them in the box and then drove home to go to sleep. After all, tomorrow was a big day.

Chapter 58C

Booth woke in good spirits the next morning, he wasn't feeling as anxious as he had the day before, and he was definitely looking forward to the game. He was picking Wendell up and Fischer was meeting him at his house before he left. Getting his stuff ready, he headed downstairs, checking his phone as he went. There were two texts, one from Angela wishing him luck, and one from his girl, "BMOC, good luck the game-talk to you on Saturday-Love Bone Lady." Smiling he tucked the phone into his front pocket and went to the kitchen for breakfast.

For her part, Temperance had gone home and straight to her room. She was tired, but not sleepy. She was looking forward to Friday for two reasons, having lunch with Alana, as nervous as that made her, and for Booth's game. Zack had told her that they would broadcast it on a local radio station, so she would at least get to listen to it. Right before she lie down to attempt to go to sleep she sent her Seeley a text, wishing him luck and telling him she'd talk to him on Saturday. Smiling she closed her eyes and waited for sleep.

Zack went home frustrated. He wanted to be Temperance's boyfriend, but he didn't want to get in the middle of the two of them. He was finding it hard to resist touching her arm, hugging her and generally being around her. He was trying to find that delicate balance between friend and more, without getting his face pounded in by Angela or Seeley. Tempe was just naïve enough to not understand and he was trying not to exploit that as well.

Angela went home exhausted. She really needed to take a break and was planning on making a trip to the spa on Friday. She didn't have to work and her dad was leaving Friday morning, so she was on her own again. She was going to get the works at the spa and then was going to go clubbing with Russ and Amy. She loved Temperance and would never turn her back on her, but sometimes she was reminded that she was still a kid and Angela wanted to go out and get into some trouble of her own.

Friday started out good for all of them. Booth and Fischer picked up Wendell and headed to the school. Temperance and Zack also headed off to school, and Angela was going downtown to her favorite all day Spa, Glory.

As soon as he got to school, Booth headed over to her locker and put a little note to her in it. Then he hustled back to the gym to meet the rest of the team. Coach Hodgins gathered them all together and said, "Okay guys, here's the deal, it's about a 30 minute drive to McCandless, so once the buses are loaded and ready to go we'll head out. We'll go straight to the stadium and unload. Then we'll dress out for offense practice, then we'll eat, then defense practice and then you'll be allowed to wander around the stadium and relax for an hour or so before we get ready for the game. Once we're all dressed out in uniforms I want 100% concentration on the game, nothing else, not the crowd, not the band, not the cheerleaders, your girlfriends or anything else. We are going there to win the SC game and nothing else, got it?" When he finished the guys gave a loud cheer and then headed out to help load the buses with equipment for both them and the band.

Temperance got to school and at her locker she grabbed her books and exchanged her jean jacket for his hoody. She saw the note and tucked it into her notebook to read in first block. When she arrived to class however, written on the white board in bright red marker it said, QUIZ CLOSED BOOK NO ARGUMENTS so she was forced to put her notebook back into her bag and focus on the quiz. The rest of school took over from there, and the note was momentarily forgotten.

Payton and the girls arrived at school and headed to the gym to meet the rest of their squad. "Did you mail them?" Caroline asked. She was looking towards the buses to try to get a glimpse of wheat colored hair. "Yes, last night, and if things go right, it will be the best $400 I've ever spent. Now, let's not worry about that, I've got a more important question for you two, Caroline, did you find someone to take to the dance?"

Caroline answered her in the affirmative, "I'm going with Hester, is Mack taking you?"

"Yes, it was so lame; he spelled it out in macaroni noodles while he was in Home Ec and then gave it to me. It doesn't matter, I'll go with him, but I'm going home with someone else, I can guarantee that!" she laughed and her and Caroline high fived. Daisy just stood there silently, Fischer hadn't said anything to her about the dance yet, and she wasn't sure if she should bring it up or not. The last time she talked to him he'd fallen under the Temperance spell also. "What about you?" Caroline asked Daisy, "Are you and Fisch going?"

"Yes, are we all going to share a limo like we'd talked about?" she decided that they didn't need to know he hadn't asked yet. "We'll see, let's wait how this weekend pans out, I just shelled out $400 to get my boyfriend back, I may not have enough for a fancy car" Payton said scathingly, rolling her eyes so Caroline could see her. Daisy didn't see the look she gave Caroline but could feel the tension, "Looks like the bus is loaded, and we'd better go get on." She said quietly. The three of them took off to join the rest of the squad and get onto the bus.

The bus took off and started its short journey to McCandless and Booth looked out over the campus of the school, trying to will her to think about him at the same time. He was trying to picture her in class and hoped that she would have texted when she read his note. Sighing, he turned back to see that Wendell and Fischer were linking their PSP's together, deciding to join them, he pulled his out of his jacket pocket and linked in to their game.

Temperance was excited when it was time to go to lunch; she was really looking forward to it. Alana had said she would meet her at her locker, and sure enough when she got there, she saw the younger girl and two other girls standing there. Suddenly shy and unsure of herself, Tempe's steps faltered somewhat as she made her way to the locker. Smiling shyly at Alana she put her things in the locker and turned towards the rest of them as Alana made the introductions, "Tempe these are my friends, Kersten and Sammy, Kersten, and Sammy this is Tempe, she's the one I told you about." Wondering just exactly what Alana had told them about her, Sammy made her feel relaxed when she said, "Good job with Payton, she's a b!tch and I would have dearly loved to see you just punch her out."

"Me too" Kersten piped up, "I was late to class one day and she told the teacher it's because I was on my period, it was horrible!"

Temperance smiled in commiseration and as the four of them walked to the cafeteria she told them all about her first encounter with Payton when she'd started school there last year. They talked and laughed all through lunch and shortly before it was over Kersten said, "I don't mean to pry, but can you tell me what it's like to be with Seeley Booth?, I mean, he is sooo hot and you are so lucky."

She blushed and thought of his hard, muscular body and warm brown eyes. "Seeley's really a nice guy, he's not all that into the popular thing and he's really sweet. She told them about him helping her sit down when her knee was banged up and winning Booth for her. She didn't want to share too much, much of it was personal but she liked having girls her own age to talk with. Girls like her who were confused and curious.

"I knew it" Kersten sighed deeply, "I knew he had to be a real nice guy…I hope I meet someone like that someday." Her face was all moony and wistful. Alana laughed and said, "Kersten is boy crazy, so you'll have to forgive her" they all giggled at the mock horror expression Kersten gave them and then started to get ready for their next class. Sammy and Kersten had Art and Culture for their next class so they broke off and headed down a different hallway while Alana and Tempe headed to biology. "Can I ask you a question?" Alana asked her new friend.

"You just did" Temperance said slightly smiling.

Giving her a slightly dirty look Alana said, "Is Fischer still dating Daisy? I know Caroline dumped Wendell and you're with Seeley, so I was just wondering if the tri-fecta was over or if he was still in to her."

"I think they are still together, at least they were yesterday at the diner, he was kissing her, I'm sorry. Fischer is a really nice guy too, he's funny and silly, but I think he's still pretty into her."

Alana was disappointed but understood; "I was just hoping to get in to the dance and thought maybe…" she trailed off. Even Temperance could understand what she was trying for and said, "I'll ask Seeley if there are any other single football players? Okay?" she smiled at the look of delight on the other girls face and was instantly overjoyed that something she did was able to produce a look like that on someone else's face. Usually, she was so clueless to subtle communication that she was always a step behind. They entered the classroom and sat down in the back row. Each of them slightly lost in thoughts of their own. Temperance was wondering what Seeley was doing, and whether Zack had left or not. She knew Pops and Jared were also going to the game, maybe they would see Max. He was attending as well.

Alana was thinking that she was glad she'd talked to Tempe, she'd been nice to her once and she always thought that Temperance would be a friendly person, a little shy, but once she felt comfortable she opened up a little bit at a time.

When biology was over, Alana and Tempe walked back to her locker. Alana still had school the rest of the afternoon, but Temperance was going to the museum. Although technically she was still in school the first 2 hours of every shift, she liked being able to leave early. The hours that she spent there all counted towards her school grades, and she was still able to make a little money on the side. Stowing the hoody back into the locker, she put on her jean jacket and grabbed her books for homework. She put her notebook in her bag and was rooting around in the bottom of the locker for her headset for the radio when she realized that Booth wasn't in there. Taking an extra couple of minutes, she pulled out all the things in there, the hoody, jersey, football and another ball cap that Seeley had stored in there, another notebook and miscellaneous books made up the rest of it. There were some pens and pencils, scraps of paper and a half empty package of Seeley's gum, but no Booth. She put everything back and tried to remember the last time she'd seen him. She grabbed her bag and closed the locker and tugged on the lock to make sure it was locked. She hoped Seeley had him and wondered why he would have taken him. She felt dismayed wondering what may have happened to the little dog. She would ask Seeley tomorrow when he came to see her; she hustled off to make the city bus to the museum.

Angela had sent her a text with the radio station on it and told her she'd see her Saturday at work; she was at a spa today and going out with Russ and Amy that evening. Temperance was bummed; all of her friends were going to be gone from the museum tonight. Angela, Max and Zack. Then feeling slightly better that she even had three friends to miss she smiled as she jogged up the steps into the lobby of the museum. She immediately turned towards the break room and wasn't paying attention to the girl at the information booth that was calling her name, "Temperance! Hey, Miss Brennan!"

Finally hearing her, Tempe turned around and headed back to the desk, "Yes?" she asked quizzically.

"You have a package here" the girl told her answering the phone and pointing to a large manila envelope.

"Okay, thank you" Temperance said as she picked up the envelope she looked at the unfamiliar handwriting. Miss Temperance Brennan, C/O Natural History Museum on the outside along with the address, but no return information, shrugging, she took it with her to the break room.

Temperance stowed her things, changed into her uniform and checked which room she was in and then taking the envelope and her headphones, she headed upstairs. When she got to the renaissance wing, she entered the back hallway and headed to one of the outdoor displays of a street market and sat down on the back of a wagon to open the envelope. She tipped the contents onto the wagon bed and then her whole world crashed down around her ears. Pictures cascaded out, dozens of them it appeared, pictures of her and Seeley, in the Explorer, at the park, of her and Angela shopping, the wreck, at the game, there were some very graphic close ups of her and Seeley embracing, there was one of the two of them half lying on each other at the park. Her vision blurred, her breathing was quick and she could barely focus on them all. There was also a jewel case with a CD or DVD in it and a short type written note. All it said was 2 of 3. Brennan sat and stared at the pictures for over an hour and when she found the two of Seeley kissing Payton on the walkway of a house that she could only assume was his or hers, and the one of them at the party she started to cry and she didn't stop crying until she heard the museum guard softly calling her name…

CHAPTER 59A

"Miss Brennan? Temperance?" Sam called her name softly; he could hear her crying and didn't want to disturb her.

Looking up at the older man she was lost as to where she even was. She still held the two worst of the pictures in her hand and although her tears had made the images appear smeared they were still quite clearly her boyfriend kissing another girl, one rather passionately and both recently. Sam could see that she was in the middle of something, but he pressed on, "Miss? Your parents are here, their downstairs and I was told to come and get you, do you need some help gathering that stuff up?"

Hiccupping and wiping her eyes, Tempe finally grasped what he had said, "My parents are downstairs?" she wondered why that was and then her heart fell into her stomach and her face went pale. Blinking furiously to keep the black dots from completely clouding her vision she realized what the sheet of paper saying 2 of 3 was referring to. She would bet everything precious to her that they had received an envelope of their own. Recovering as quickly as she could, she didn't want him to see her completely break down and pass out, she said, "No, thank you Sam, I've got it all. Just a second and I'll be with you." She gathered everything up and put it all back into the envelope. Gathering the cleaning supplies, her headphones and the envelope, she smiled as brightly as she could, "I'm ready Sam, can we stop by the break room to drop this stuff off?"

"Actually, I'm supposed to take the supplies to the break room after I take you to the curators office to meet your parents, I'm sorry Miss." He was so sorry for whatever was going on in her life; she was a really nice kid. She'd never treated him like some of the other employees had. Being slightly overweight and under tall, not to mention a little bookish had put him on the outs most of his life, and although he was used to it, and knew he'd never go further than being a security guard at a museum, he'd always been glad when she was working, she was a nice girl.

"Oh okay then" she said quietly.

Sam and Temperance exited the employees only hallway and he lead her to the curator's office. She had only been in there twice, once for her initial interview and once when she was given the opportunity to listen to an internet broadcast about the museum from Max when he was overseas. She entered and saw Lance and Rebecca sitting stiffly on chairs in front of his desk and they were not at all pleased. "Temperance," the curator began, "your parents are here to collect you and your things, I'm sorry to hear that you will not be continuing the internship program with us. You were one of the best student interns we've had. I never heard a bad word about you and the senior staff has all told me that you are a very hard worker, not to mention the personal reviews Dr. Keenan has given. I hope that once your personal commitments are fulfilled you will be allowed to return, we would like to see you around our halls again." She had no idea what was going on, but it appeared as though she was being fired. Although, not technically an employee, she was being terminated from the student program. She looked from the curator to the Sweets and then back to him in shock. "What about school? My credits?" she asked in a whisper, trying hard not to break down. "All of those will still be transferred through the end of this quarter, I believe it ends next week, and I will contact the school on Monday on your behalf. Again, Temperance, it has been an incredible pleasure to have you in our program, please feel free to use me personally as a reference should you need one." He handed her his business card as he stood to walk around the desk to shake her hand. Shaking his hand, she also rose as did the Sweets and left the room.

They never said a word to her as they exited the building, just quietly walked to the car and got into it quickly. As they left his office, the curator spoke to Sam who was waiting outside the door and said, "I feel really sorry for that little girl, something bad has obviously happened. I hope she is able to work through it, my friend." He clapped him on his shoulder and then went back to his office and closed the door. Sam looked sadly on their retreating forms and hoped the same. He went to the break room and looked at her empty locker. Already he was missing the bright young girl and wondered when her flamboyant friend would be returning and what she would say. Shaking his head, he went back to stand by the front door and watched the storm clouds start to gather on the horizon.

When Temperance and the Sweets arrived home, she knew that going to her room to forget this entire day was never going to happen. She simply walked in after them and waited for the inevitable to begin. "Please put your things away and come to the living room when you are done." Lance told her as if she was a stranger. Heart heavy she went upstairs. She put the envelope of pictures that she'd hidden inside the wadded up jacket into her pillowslip and came back downstairs where she went directly to the living room. Seeing their envelope of pictures spread on the coffee table, she was prepared, however, seeing a paused DVD of the football game and her and Angela, and Max sitting in the stands made her gasp in surprise. That must have been what was on the DVD she got as well. They pushed play and she was watching a professionally edited version of what happened, she saw the date and time scrolling across the bottom, saw her and Angela with the sign, cheering for the game and then Rebecca fast forwarded it to the part where Booth had met her at the edge of the bleachers and took her into his arms. The scene cut to a still photo of her wrapped in his embrace, sitting in the passenger seat of the Explorer, his body pressed against her, while she heard herself telling him not to be so hard, while innocent as it had happened, taken out of context, it sounded as if the two of them were having or very nearly having sex.

Still saying nothing, she fast forwarded to another scene, the wreck, her climbing out of the truck, Angela and the police. The entire football team, everything. Lance paused the DVD and grabbed a handful of pictures, all of them carefully selected to show her and Seeley in the most intimate of situations. Lance handed her the photos and said, "Would you care to explain these Temperance?"

Interrupting her husband, "I for one would like to know how you could be at work on…"Rebecca said looking for the date on the museum schedule, and telling her what it was she continued, "and yet, you are here with this boy. Who is this boy Temperance?" Temperance started to speak only to be interrupted by Rebecca once again, "Why are you with that Angela girl? You've been specifically told not to ride with her or go anywhere with her, and yet, there's what? Almost a dozen pictures of you and her not only climbing out of a wreck, but shopping, downtown? And look, here's one with you and her and her bodyguard." She threw the photo of Grayson and the two of them getting in the car at her.

"I'm sorry" was all Temperance was able to get out. "You certainly are" Rebecca spat.

"You're a sorry excuse for a daughter, and here we were thinking we could trust you, and you've been lying to us for who knows how long. Are you having intercourse with this boy? What is his name anyway?"

"Seeley Booth and no I'm not." She said quietly.

"How are we supposed to believe that Temperance given the evidence here that you are a liar?" Lance asked her."Is this the reason you've had a sudden interest in the school's athletic teams as well as dances?"

"No sir, not the whole team, just him" she said, not realizing how sarcastic that would come across. She really wasn't interested in the team as a whole just that he was on it. "Oh well, that's a relief," he said, "It's nice to know our daughter is only involved physically with one player and not the whole team."

Rebecca pounced on another photo and handed it to Temperance, who reluctantly took it. "Where did you get that?" she asked referring to the cell phone that Temperance was talking on.

"Angela bought it for me"

"Where is it?" she asked menacingly.

Pulling the phone out of her pocket, Temperance silently handed it over to her. Taking it from her hand, Lance opened the flip phone and broke it in half. Then he removed the memory and SIM card from it and placed them both into his pocket. Hearing the noise of the last broken link she had to her friends made Temperance lose the control she'd held up until then. She burst into great gaping sobs and put her head into her hands.

"Please don't carry on so Temperance, you've brought this on yourself, so have no one but yourself to blame." Lance told her. "As for us, obviously our Thanksgiving plans have to be cancelled, so thank you for that. And, thank you also for bringing these disgusting images into our home. Your mother and I having received these earlier today discussed taking you straight back to CPS, but we've calmed down since then and have decided instead that you are no longer working at the museum, your room is to be cleared of all personal items, including the radio and you will no longer be allowed access to the library. We will be contacting the school on Monday about the museum credits and will have them assign you a regular class schedule. I will be taking you to school and your mother will be picking you up. You will also be assigned more chores, as you obviously have too much time on your hands. There is to be no discussion of this matter further." He stood and went to the DVD player to remove the disk, handing it to Rebecca he told his wife to gather this filth up and throw it away and he would be in the kitchen preparing dinner. Rebecca started to gather the pictures when she saw the note that said, 1 of 3.

"Temperance, did you already know about this?" She asked her showing her the note.

As her last great act of defiance, Temperance said, "No Ma'am, may I be excused?"

"Oh no young lady, you are going to go help him make dinner while I clean out your room." She told her pointing to the kitchen.

Knowing she would find the pictures, she said, "May I change my clothes first please?" looking down at the floor begging for something to go right.

"Yes, 5 minutes, then I'm coming up." Rebecca told her putting the rest of the pictures in the envelope the came in.

Tempe headed upstairs and went to her pillowslip, she slid the envelope of pictures out of it and took it to the window, she grabbed an old t-shirt, wrapped it around the envelope and placed it on the roof outside of her window. She knew that it wouldn't be protected from the weather for long, but she only needed it for a little while. The clouds were darkening, so she grabbed a pair of her sneakers, put them in a spare pillowslip, added the t-shirt wrapped bundle and set it just under the eave, hoping the weight of the shoes would keep it there until that evening. She quickly jumped into a pair of jeans and headed back downstairs.

CHAPTER 59B

Practice was easy, Coach Hodgins didn't want his players over taxed, so they just ran touch drills and light tackle plays both on the offense and defense. All of the student athletes and coaching staff as well as the band and cheer squads all boarded the buses after the first practice and went to lunch. Seeing the size of the bill the faculty was quite glad that Angela's father had paid for it. Back to the stadium for the defensive practice, Seeley and the rest of the starting seniors on the offense were regulated to watching the practice and offering up constructive criticism. Most of them however had gone over to watch the cheer squad practice; Seeley joined them out of habit more than anything. He was sitting in the bleachers physically but his mind was miles away when his phone chirped. Looking down he saw an incoming text, "Seeley-me & Pops are here." He got off the bleachers and headed towards the stadium entrance to meet his little brother and grandfather. Waiting for the two of them to come up the concourse, he'd also run into some students from St. Agnes as well as most of the Maranatha football team, including Zack. "Hey man, you ready for this?" Zack asked him.

"Ready as I can be Zack," he responded coolly, still not sure whether to trust him or not. "Well, good luck." Zack told him heading off to join his own team mates and friends. Seeing Pops, Seeley went to the gates and walked back into the stadium with them. "This is something Shrimp, how're you holding up?" his grandfather asked taking in the scenery.

"Not too bad Pops, not too bad. I've got to go back to the field, there's a bunch of pomp and circumstance before the opening kickoff that we have to run through, so I'll most likely see you after the game, okay?"

"Alright kid, go get 'em" Pops told him giving him a one armed hug. Jared gave him a fist bump and told him good luck, before they headed off to go to the inner part of the stadium where the memorabilia was kept.

"Oh Pops, I'll need to ride home on the bus too according to Coach, is that okay?" He called after him.

"Fine by me Shrimp, come straight home when you get to the school though, win or lose, you hear me?"

"Yes Sir!" Seeley didn't have the heart to tell him he would have anyways; he wanted to be able to get some sleep before Saturday. He was looking forward to going to the museum more than the game it seemed.

Seeley went back to the field and joined the rest of his team, practice was over and they were gathering up their things to go to the locker rooms for their rest period. The locker rooms at the stadium were designed for professional teams, so in addition to being quite roomy, they also had TV's, internet and video game systems in place. The team hurried into theirs and all plugged into various outlets their games, iPods and assorted electronics. Seeley checked his phone and there was one other message, scrolling through he saw, "LUCK LUCK LUCK~ANGEL" Smiling, he turned the phone off. He was quite sure that she would have texted him once she read the note that he left, so he was feeling a little put out. Deciding to just stop wasting time worrying about it, he pulled a ball cap low on his eyes, lay down in the corner and put his headphones in, he was going to relax and enjoy the music, think about the game and get himself focused.

Exiting the spa, Angela felt better than she had in a long time. She'd had a wonderfully relaxing day. She was pampered and ready to party. Calling Amy they made plans to meet at 8 at her house and then pick up Russ and head out from there. She had no missed calls and no texts, which for her was surprising. Someone always wanted to tell her something, ask her something or question her about her dad, she had tried having two cell phones at one time, but was always mixing them up, so just decided to let the publicist have this number as well as her friends. Deciding that she was going to take a nap in the 3 hours before she had to meet Amy, she turned her phone off after sending a brief text to Booth for luck.

Dinner lasted forever. It was silent except for the gentle clinks of silverware on the plates, glasses touching the table and napkins rustling. Temperance could feel the tension in the room, and although most of the time there was tension in her house, this was so thick she would need a light house to navigate. Deciding she was in trouble anyways, what could a little more hurt, she asked, "Will I be able to call my friends to tell them I no longer work at the museum?"

"I don't really think that will be necessary, I'm sure they will be able to see that when your name no longer shows up on the schedule. I'm sure when you go to school you will be able to tell them then. Although, it may become necessary to move you to another school." Lance answered her and her stomach dropped. She had other friends there now besides Seeley and the guys, if she was moved to yet another school she was really afraid her tenuous grasp on the world would slip away. Silence was the best answer, so she just finished eating and after asking to be excused, she went upstairs.

Tempe wasn't surprised to see her room after Rebecca had gone through it. All of the small liberties she'd taken were gone. It now had the impersonal look of a hotel room. Her schoolbooks were the only things left on her desk, all of her personal books and novels were gone. Luckily the jean jacket and her meager selection of clothes were still in the closet. The ball cap hidden in there was no longer there. Checking her jean pockets, she was relieved that her dolphin and pig were still there. She went to the bathroom and changed into her night clothes and prepared for the long, sleepless night. She had no reason to stay awake; there was no radio to listen to, and no phone to check. She wished briefly for the headphones from work, but they would be one more thing for the Sweets to take away. Before she went to bed, she pulled the pillowslip in from outside, and although damp it wasn't ruined. She pulled the shoes out, and inside one of them was her stashed mini mag. She turned out the light to her room, even though it was barely past 7 and crawled into bed. She dumped the pictures out again and although they still made her loose her breath, she was better able to view them now.

The ones of her and Booth together she was able to handle them. She could picture those in her mind at any time without seeing them printed on photo paper. The ones that she could barely stomach were the ones of him and Payton. The one with his arm around her dressed for church, he was looking down at her with obvious concern, one arm behind her and the other steadying her. She had open adoration in her expression as she looked up. They were a beautiful couple, him so large and dark, her so small and blonde. Both dressed fashionably well given the event. Tempe moved on to the next picture of them together, it was a night shot, he held Payton in his arms and they were kissing. Not a fiery explosive passionate kiss, but one of the long, low burning flame types. Payton's arms were around his neck, his around her waist. The last one she'd seen before, but only on the cell phone. As a still photo, it was much more dramatic and damning. It was Payton in the corner of a room, Seeley's back to the camera, but clearly showing him kissing her with great electricity and voracity. He was pressed against her, one hand grasping her leg as she wrapped it around his waist. That was the one that cut the deepest. That picture was taken the night he'd told her he loved her.

Temperance bundled the pictures back up and stashed them in her school bag. Still using the flashlight, she was looking for the picture she had of the two of them in her notebook when she came upon the note he'd left in her locker that morning that she had stashed in her first block class. She took the note back to the bed and opened it and read it quietly by flashlight. Her tears fell quick and hot to blur the words, turning off the flashlight, and crushing the note in her hand, Temperance cried herself to sleep again. She had thought those nights were behind her and now realized that they would never be behind her again.

CHAPTER 59C THE NOTE

Tempe,

Whenever I'm weary from the battles that rage in my head  
you make sense of madness when my sanity hangs by a thread  
I lose my way but still you seem to understand  
now and forever I will be your man.  
Sometimes I just hold you too caught up in me to see  
I'm holding a fortune that heaven has given to me  
I'll try to show you each and every way I can  
Now and forever I will be your man  
Now I can rest my worries and always be sure  
That I won't be alone anymore  
If I'd only known you were there all the time  
All this time Until the day the ocean doesn't touch the sand  
Now and forever I will be your man

The lyrics of this song say exactly what I want to say to you each and every day. I'll see you Saturday.

Love,

Seeley

CHAPTER 60

The game was a nail biter from the opening kickoff to the last plays run. Both teams had their best players on the turf, both sides of the stands were screaming at the top of their lungs. There were back and forth scores, trick plays, missed opportunities and through it all the seniors kept up the pressure, the pace and the presence. Unfortunately, St. Agnes came up just slightly short in the end and were defeated 47-45. Leaving the field among the tears and good wishes, Seeley wasn't as upset as he expected to be. He'd always thought that making it to the SC game and losing it would be the most devastating feeling he could have. He played his best though; he never missed a catch, a signal or a step. All he could do was his best and that's what he did. All of the seniors gathered after the game to commiserate with each other on how this was their last chance, their last opportunity and how they wouldn't be playing together anymore. Coach Hodgins joined their huddle and told them all what a great run they'd had and how they all should be proud of themselves. They'd made it when only one other team in the state had made it and that was nothing to be ashamed of.

When they headed back to the locker room, Wendell asked what the plan was for when they got back. Fischer said, "I'm just going home man, Daisy and I have plans tomorrow and I'll need my rest. I've been neglecting her lately" he leered and winked. Laughing Wendell and Seeley told him to grow up, "I'm heading home too, going to go hang out at the museum tomorrow with Tempe" Seeley said.

"Well, then I guess I'll go home too, I've got no one else to hang with" Wendell said with a slightly wistful tone, thinking simultaneously of Caroline and Angela. "Ah poor baby" Caroline said as she walked up behind them and heard his last words. She headed over to where Mack and Hester were standing with Payton and put her arms around Hester. Looking over her shoulder she smiled and winked at Wendell. The three boys passed the other little group and continued on to the locker rooms. "Sorry man" Seeley offered Wendell once inside.

"No problem dude, I've still got my eye on one little Angel" Wendell told him with more confidence than he felt, "Wonder if she'd go to a kids dance?" he mused. "Tempe is going, I'm sure Angela would go if nothing more to hang out with her, besides, what a trip that would be to show up with her on your arm, Caroline would scratch her own eyes out from jealousy!" Seeley told him.

"You're probably right!" Wendell was thinking that he may just do that after all, "Hey, what's her number?" Seeley opened his phone and got the number for him, and then scrolled through the log, nothing. He really didn't think he'd have anything, so he was too disappointed. He and the other two showered up and got changed, offering to help load the equipment back up for the band. It was almost midnight and even though it was only a 30 minute drive, they wanted to get going as quickly as they could.

Once everyone was cleaned up, loaded up and accounted for the buses took off for home. The ride home was somber, everyone was trying not to think of the loss, but it was difficult. Most of the team was trying to think of what they could have done to win, the coaches were thinking they knew what to work on for next season, the seniors were disappointed, the dual sport athletes were relieved they could concentrate on basketball, hockey or whatever else they played and the cheerleaders were bummed because they wouldn't be needed until next year.

One senior however was focused on auburn hair, big blue eyes and an engaging smile. Seeley couldn't wait for Saturday morning. He was glad he'd be able to see her for most of the day, even though she'd be cleaning, he didn't mind helping. Anything to just be with her, smiling he closed his eyes and thought back over the past month and how it had changed him. He pictured the first time he spoke to her, the first lunch, the first kiss. All of the images in his mind running over and under and through each other. He was pretty ebullient when they arrived at the school and he got his stuff off the bus, waving good bye to the rest of the team, he headed home and went straight to his room.

Throwing his bag in the corner, he pulled on sweats and a t-shirt and prepared for bed. He crawled in and there was a lump on the top of the comforter. Turning on the bedside light he saw a package was sitting in the middle of the bed. Looking at the front of it, he recognized the handwriting and his stomach turned over. He ripped the package open and pictures flew everywhere. The only thing he concentrated on at first was Booth. Her dog was on his comforter with a picture of the two of them at the carousel tucked into his collar. Holding the dog, he picked up the DVD case and turned it over, there was nothing written on it. He wondered what was going on until he really looked at the pictures. They were all pictures of him and Tempe; these were all taken by someone else. There were three pictures in particular that made his mouth dry and his palms sweat. The three pictures of him and Payton, they looked so incriminating, no matter how much he stared at them, they looked exactly like they were meant to. They looked like he was making out with his ex girlfriend. There was a typewritten note that said, 3 of 3 in the package also, which made his head spin. That meant that two other people got a package just like this.

Looking at the clock, he knew that Tempe was asleep, but thought maybe Angela would be available. Calling her number, it went straight to voicemail; he left her a message to call him as soon as she could, that he desperately needed to talk to her. Seeley gathered the pictures back up and looked through them all again; every intimate detail of their time together had been recorded by someone. He went from feeling shock, to cold fury at Payton to resentment and back to shock. He prayed that Temperance hadn't seen any of these pictures. Making another call, he left a voicemail, that simply said, "you b!tch. Call me."

He put the DVD in and pushed play. Seeing the camera follow her and Angela into the stadium made his skin crawl. To think that whoever this was had been following all of them just made him nauseous. He fast forwarded through the DVD and saw that all the scenes were primarily of Temperance, except for when he'd told her he loved her and then the end when he'd pulled her out of the bleachers. The screen went black for a second and then a still picture came up. Him and Tempe in the explorer, and an audio from a completely different time when he'd been tickling her, it was cut and edited though to sound much worse. He could feel the tiny burn of tears in his eyes as he watched the rest of the DVD, his was different, it had video and audio of the two of them, all of it made out to sound horrible. He could only imagine what people would think hearing this. He pulled the DVD out and put it back in the case, putting it back in the envelope, he gathered up the rest of the pictures and put them in too. He stuck it all under his bed and turned off his light. Grabbing Booth he lie down and did something he hadn't done in years. He held the stuffed dog and cried. Praying for daylight and damage control, he was soon in a fitful sleep and stayed that way until well after the sun had risen.

CHAPTER 61A

Angela rolled into work at 8:30 am, nursing a hangover and with less than the optimum amount of sleep; she was not prepared for the onslaught she received from the staff as she walked through the grand lobby. "What happened?" "Will she be back?" "Did you know?" questions hurled at her from the gift shop to the information desk as she entered. "What are you all talking about?" she asked, the museum hadn't opened yet and everyone was gathered up front. "Temperance quit yesterday, her parents came and got her and everything!" Lucy from the gift shop told her.  
"WHAT?" Angela said, momentarily forgetting speaking above a whisper caused cymbals to crash through her head. "What the hell are you talking about, Tempe wouldn't quit, she loves this place." Angela turned on her phone and looked through the log, she listened to Seeley's voicemail and excusing herself from the concerned employees went straight to the break room. "Hello? Tempe? Hello?" he was frantic when he answered.

"No Booth, its Angela, what's going on? I just got to work and I was told Tempe quit yesterday, what the hell?" she was pacing, when she entered she saw that Tempe's locker was empty and wide open and her name had been crossed off of the employee schedule and her photo had been removed from the wall of shame, the employee photo recognition wall. "Slow down! What?" she told him, he'd been telling her about pictures and a dog and she wouldn't answer the phone, "You got what?! That's it, I'm on my way, how do I get there?" Once she had directions she left the break room and went straight to the front desk, "cross me off the list, call an intern, I'm leaving" she told the day supervisor.

"Angela! We open in 10 minutes, you have a tour at 9:15, you can't leave!" the supervisor told her.

"I don't need this job, I work here because I like it, either take me off the schedule today or take me off permanently, I don't care which, I'm leaving" she told the man as succinctly as she could without telling him where he could shove the tour. Angela turned and ran through the inner doors and down the steps, on her way to see what she could do to clear things up.

Driving over to Seeley's house, she called Tempe's phone and got voicemail all three times. She left messages the first two times and then hung up the third time. She could only hope that Tempe would get a chance to check the phone before too long. 20 minutes later she pulled up in front of Booth's house in her Aston Martin, she didn't bother to set the alarm, just ran up to the front porch. The $200k car was the least of her worries right now. Jared answered the door, "Hi Ange-what's up? Oh Wow! Is that an Aston Martin DBS?" he asked looking over her shoulder, "Yes, Jared it is, where's your brother?"

Not looking at her but admiring the car he said, "He's upstairs, shower, can I look inside?"

She tossed him the keys and said, "You can drive the damn thing for all I care, which room?"

"2nd at the top of the stairs," he told her catching the keys and stepping around her, all as he was dialing Howard's cell phone. Angela bounded inside and up the stairs behind him, cutting off his explanation of the car to his best friend.

"Seeley?!" She called knocking on the 2nd door. Pops came out of his room and said, "He's in the shower dear, but that's his room alright. You're Temperance's friend aren't you?"

"Yes Sir, Angela Montenegro" she told him shaking his hand, "do you mind if I wait in his room?"

"No young lady, I hope whatever you are here for isn't going to get anyone in trouble?" he asked somewhat sternly, "No Sir, hopefully we can keep someone out of trouble actually" she smiled at him with her 100 watt smile, "It's Pops young lady and that sounds like a plan to me" he chuckled as he descended the stairs.

Angela went into Booth's room and sat at his desk, she was looking at some random pictures of him as a young boy, standing next to a man in a pilot's uniform, when he came in the room. A towel wrapped around his waist and nothing else on caused her jaw to drop, "Wowee" she whispered, startling him. "Jeez Ange" he said, "How long have you been sitting there?"

"About 5 minutes Boothy, why don't you get dressed and we can figure out what is going on" she told him, silently pleading for him to get dressed rather quickly. Her libido and hangover were not mutually exclusive and although she wasn't really lusting after her best friend's boyfriend, he was a very hot specimen to look at.

"Close your eyes" he told her as he grabbed a pair of boxer shorts. Angela heard the towel fall and never wished she had a superpower more in her life. "Okay" he told her as he turned to the closet to grab a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Fanning herself Angela thought she must be crazy. This is a kid, her best friend's boyfriend and they were in crisis mode. She decided she was never drinking again. Finally he turned and said, "Okay, so last night after the game" she interrupted, "Did you win?"

"Huh? No we didn't, listen Angela jeez" he said impatiently, "I get home and there is a package on my bed, I open it up and this is what I find" he took it out from under his bed and handed her the ripped envelope, then said, "Booth was in it, this was in his collar."

"Booth?" she asked raising one eyebrow.

"Her stuffed dog, I won it for her, she named it Booth, it's been in her locker for a month or so, she didn't tell you? Oh well, anyway, this was in there too" and he put the DVD in. The two of them watched the majority of the DVD, he fast forwarded through the scenes they were both at and then paused it before the still photo at the end, "Okay, this is going to sound really bad, but you have to know that I was tickling her when this was recorded, nothing else."

"Just play it Junior" she told him. Angela was furious, She felt violated, she felt like the little bit of privacy she had been able to have, given who she was had been ripped away. There were no words for how sorry she was that Tempe was going through all of this. Booth pushed play and Angela gasped and put her hand to her mouth. "Turn it off" she told him. Tears standing out brightly in her eyes. She looked at him in horror and said, "I have to go to her" and she rushed out of the room. "Angela! Angela wait, let me come with you!" he shouted as she ran down the stairs.

"No" Angela had stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "You stay here. I'll let you know what happens. I mean it Booth; don't make this any worse for her." She stalked to the door and slammed it on her way out. Seeley was devastated. That wasn't the answer he wanted, Jared and Howard came in and before the door shut he heard the roar of the Aston Martins engine and the squealing of tires. He rushed to the door in time to see the tail end of the car merging into traffic.

"Oh my god Seeley, did you see that car? That is James Bond's car, Howard and I sat in it, it was freaking awesome!" Jared was beside himself in love with the car.

"Yeah, I saw it Jarhead," Seeley said with a sigh. He wasn't about to let her get away with telling him to stay away from his own girlfriend, he ran upstairs and grabbed a jacket and Booth and headed out to his Explorer. It's not as fancy, but I bet it has better memories, he thought to himself as he started the car and headed the same direction as Angela.

CHAPTER 61B

Angela pulled to a sedate stop in front of the home of the Sweets. She took a deep breath and looked in the rear view mirror at her reflection. She wasn't scared of them for her sake; she was scared of them for Tempe's. Pinching her cheeks for color, she winked at herself and headed up to the front door. Knocking on the dark wood she rehearsed what she was going to say depending on who answered.

Lance answered the door and said, "May I help you?" A tall, slender man he was slightly baby faced, short, dark hair, big eyes, very observant. "Yes, hello Mr. Sweets, my name is Angela Montenegro, and I'm a friend of Temperance's. I'd like to speak to her please, Sir."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible Miss. Montenegro, Temperance is…grounded at the moment, and she is not able to have guests."

"Mr. Sweets, I know about the pictures, and I know that it wasn't the way you wanted to find out that Temperance is a 16 year old girl, but she is, she has friends and a boyfriend and life outside of school and home, and she should be able to explore that." Angela wasn't sure how to go about getting him to listen; he obviously had his mind made up. Closing the door behind him, Lance stepped out on to the porch and said, "Miss. Montenegro, I'm sure you think you have her best interests at heart, but as you are neither an employee of the state, nor her guardian I fail to see how what we do with her is any of your business. The basic necessities are being met for Temperance; she has food, clothing, and school. Social interaction is provided during the hours she is at school, aside from that, she needs nothing else to be a productive member of society. There is no reason to assume she is being tortured or abused, she is merely grounded for some bad decisions she chose to make"

"Sir" she started to interrupt, when he held up a hand and said, "If I may ask you a question, was the phone your idea or hers?"

Knowing full well the idea was originally hers, but this time Temperance asked for it, she still took the full weight of the decision on her shoulders. "It was my idea Sir; I felt she would enjoy having social interaction after school and other times as well." She didn't flinch, she was still standing her ground, even when he came very close to her and said, "Please disconnect the phone service immediately, she no longer has a phone to need it for, and I would truly hate for your money to be wasted so frivolously." He handed her the broken phone and the memory and sim card, both of which had been cut in half. Taking the mangled phone into her hand, he continued, "I hope this will be the last we see of you Miss. Montenegro, I'm sure you have friends your own age that you can interact with, and there will be no further need for you to corrupt and influence Temperance?"

"Sir-you can't stop me from coming over here, or seeing her, I'll make some calls and tell them everything" this time he interrupted her, "Don't make it worse for her Miss. Montenegro, don't make it worse." He opened the door and went inside. Angela was shaking with anger, she knew she shouldn't leave, but there wasn't anything the authorities could do. He was right, all of her basic needs were being met, he wasn't required to make sure she had friends or a boyfriend. Angela stood on the porch for another minute or so and then headed to the silver car on the street. A white Explorer pulled up behind her and he jumped out. "Don't bother Booth, he won't let you see her." She said resignedly. She got in her car and left, she was going to go make some phone calls, and needed to be grounded when she did.

Booth completely ignored her and walked straight to the door. Pounding on the door, he was furious. Once again, Lance opened the door and said, "May I help you?"

"Mr. Sweets, my name is Seeley Booth and I want to see Temperance." He told him looking him straight in the eye.

"Ah, Mr. Booth, it is a surprise that we would see you so soon," Lance said as he stepped out on the porch. Slightly closing the door, he continued, "Temperance is grounded. She is not able to have visitors right now, and frankly considering the seriousness of your situation, I would think that you would want to do as little as possible to make things worse." His voice was low and level. "The seriousness of my situation? I've done nothing wrong, and neither has she" Booth told the other man. Although roughly the same height, Seeley had him by about 40 pounds and 25 years. He stepped towards the slightly opened door and yelled, "Tempe! Its Seeley baby, come here!"

Lance reached behind him and shut the door and stood toe to toe with the upset teenager and said few words, but they had great meaning, "Temperance has told us that you are 18 Mr. Booth, she is 16. You should know that if an 18 year old man, an adult by societies standards is caught with a 16 year old girl, there are dire consequences."

"We haven't done anything" Seeley sputtered taking a step back and realizing what this man was implying.

"Mr. Booth, you and I both know that teenagers aren't always the best judge of what is right and wrong, this situation is a perfect example of poor choices made by an infatuated girl. I would suggest that you leave our home and take solace in the fact that I have not contacted the authorities. You aren't making anything any easier on her by being here, please do not return." Lance closed the door forcefully behind him and went to the office.

Seeley stood for a second or two and looked at the closed door. He knew that he and Temperance were meant to be and they had done nothing wrong, but he didn't know what pictures they may have received, and didn't want to take the chance of having CPS and the cops and who knew who else brought in. He walked back to his truck, but instead of getting in, he walked towards the part of the back yard that paralleled the street and looked towards her window. The curtains were drawn tightly and he couldn't see any movement. He stood for a full minute and looked at the darkened window before getting in his truck and driving home. Pulling out his phone, he looked and there were no calls from Payton yet, but knowing that he wasn't in the position he needed to be to talk to her, he didn't call her again. When he pulled into his driveway he dialed Temperance's phone, with the hopes of leaving her a voice message. He wanted to tell her that he was going to do whatever he could to make it better. Unfortunately, Angela had called the phone company first and all he heard was a mechanized voice, "THE SUBSCRIBER YOU HAVE CALLED HAS TERMINATED THEIR SERVICE." Looking down at the phone, Booth's heart clenched, now there was no way to talk to her until school.

He leaned his head back against the seat back and sighed. His whole world was spinning out of control, and he didn't even know where to start. He wanted to go over to Payton's house and make her tell him why she had done what she did, but he knew that he'd never get past her father, he wanted to go to Angela's house and plan a daring rescue attempt, but he wasn't picking up a good vibe from her either. Although she wasn't too different while she'd been over, she'd flirted like always, he just had a nagging suspicion that she blamed him for this. He called Fischer and got his voicemail, telling him to call him when he could; he called Wendell and did the same. He needed to get his own friends together to see what they could do about getting his girl back into his arms.

~Meanwhile~

"Lo?" She answered the phone sleepily; last night had been a long night. After getting home from the game, she and Caroline had gone to Macks house. Caroline told her that Hester was a pretty good substitute for Wendell, but as far as she was concerned, Mack was a very poor replacement for Seeley. Although he took direction well, that was about all he did well. "Payton?" the girls voice was familiar, but she was still half asleep, "yeah-who's this?" she asked yawning and setting up.

"It's Roxie, and I had to go to work this morning, when I got there, all of her stuff is gone, her locker's empty and everything." Roxie had a high, breathy little girls' voice and it grated on Payton's nerves at the best of times, now it was just enough to make her head pound, "What?" she said, "Whose stuff is gone?"

"That girl, Temperance, remember? She works at the museum, and her stuff is all gone, her name is off of the schedule, and I guess that Angela chick came in this morning and everyone told her that Tempe's parents came and got her yesterday and she had to quit, supposedly Angela quit this morning too, but her stuff is still here, looks like it worked!" she was giddy. Roxie had always wanted to be a part of the inner circle of Payton Perotta, and thought by helping her; she'd be welcomed with open arms.

Payton didn't realize that she would have had to quit the museum, she thought that at most she'd be grounded and that would be it, she'd have to stop seeing Seeley and then Payton could pick up his pieces. She wasn't sure what to do now knowing that her job was involved. She knew that other student employees gained college credits and it was actually a course offered by the high school. She wasn't happy that the plan had gone a little further than was intended, although, she did think it was kind of ironic that the one place that little dork wanted to be the most, she wasn't going to be able to go to.

"Great Roxie, great, thanks for calling."Payton said absently and hung up on her. She looked at her phone and saw she had a voicemail, listening to it, her whole body tensed and her palms started to sweat. He'd only said 4 words, but they weren't what she was expecting to hear. She thought that once Temperance was removed from his vision, he would have turned to her for solace. Payton decided she would wait a little while longer before calling him, she was sure he would want to talk to her, and she wanted to be ready for that encounter. She threw the comforter off of her and headed to the shower.

CHAPTER 61C

Temperance woke up early, way earlier than normal. She had a slight headache from crying, and her face was sticky with tears. She looked at the clock and saw that it was nearly 6 AM. Seeing the sun's rays teasing the outside of the curtains, she pulled them aside and watched the rest of the morning sunrise. Wondering how it was the sun could rise and time could still march on seemed both rational and ridiculous. The empirical, rational soon to be scientist side of her knew that nothing would stop the sun from rising, that time continues on no matter how much she may have wished otherwise; the teenager in love side of her didn't think it was fair. She was in pain, didn't the universe know that?

After welcoming the sun, she went to the bathroom to wash her face, brush her teeth and try to organize her thoughts. She knew the Sweets would be up in a couple of hours, she had no way to contact anyone and nothing to do but stare at the pictures that disgusted her or the note he wrote that saddened her. She'd woken up with it crumpled in her hand, and had re-read it already twice. How could he say those things? He'd kissed Payton on the SAME day he'd told her he loved her. She thought kissing someone was a choice; it wasn't like Payton overpowered him and held him down. He said someone spiked his drink, she could buy that, once. What about the kiss on the front walk of that house? Was he drinking a spiked drink then too? According to the time, it was after he'd gotten home from Zam's. Oh my god, she thought, her face flaming, that was the same night I texted him with those ridiculous ideas. He must have thought I was such an idiot.

Temperance was mortified. She couldn't believe that she had let her guard down so far as to let him have her heart, when he clearly didn't want it. She picked up the picture of the two of them at church. He'd told her that he'd talked to her; he didn't tell her he held her close as they walked to his car. Crushing that picture in her hand, Temperance decided she was done with the whole damn thing. All she'd ever wanted was to be a scientist, like her dad. She wanted to go to school where her brother Andy went to school, she wanted to go to college where her dad went, and she wanted to work in a museum or college someday. Then they all left, first her parents Kathy and Malcolm, then Andy left and she was alone.

She was petrified the first foster home she went to, she didn't sleep the first two nights she was there. Never said a word and was promptly sent back to the orphanage when it was obvious she wasn't going to settle right in with a new family. Bouncing back and forth, she was at school for 2 weeks her freshman year when Payton stepped on her lunch as she got off the bus, and that afternoon she met the Sweets for the first time. They lived in the area, somewhat close to St. Agnes School; they'd recently been approved to have a teenager and having never had children of their own, were completely unprepared for a barely 15 year old. But, as uncomfortable as it was, Temperance had felt like she could still accomplish her goals here. All she had to do was say yes or no to the right questions, keep her mouth closed otherwise and do her chores. Deciding that she could do that for 3 more years was better than bouncing around, she stopped resisting. Eventually with the intern class the school offered, she was able to get out of the house and they didn't consider the library to be a very offensive place, so she was able to go there as well.

Now, all of it, everything that she had worked so hard to keep was gone. She wanted so badly to blame it all on Seeley, but she knew it wasn't his fault; it was hers for thinking she deserved to be normal, and that she should be able to have friends. There were days when she didn't talk to Angela at all, so that wasn't anything new, what was new was knowing now that she couldn't talk to her.

Temperance heard the Sweets going downstairs, and soon the smell of fresh coffee wafted up the stairs, knowing that she would have to be up and ready to do whatever chores Rebecca would have for her, she got off the bed, stored the pictures again, and after thinking about it for a couple of seconds tore the note he'd written her into tiny shreds and taking them and her robe, went to the bathroom to shower. She threw the note pieces in the toilet and watched them swirl down the drain, that's just like my dreams she thought. After her shower and getting dressed, she headed downstairs to start the first day of the rest of her partially incarcerated life.

After breakfast, Rebecca told her that she was to clean the downstairs thoroughly, dusting each book in the office bookshelves, all of the collection pieces; everything was to be shining brightly. Afterwards, she was going to help Lance in the yard, raking leaves, cleaning gutters, getting the outside of the house ready for the winter. She'd gone upstairs to change when there was a sharp knock on the front door. She leaned over the landing and listened to see who it was. She had a brief flutter of hope that it was Max coming to rescue her, but she dismissed it equally as quickly as a complete fantasy. Max wasn't going to come rescue her anymore than Angela or Seeley was. Still, she listened to hear who it was.

She was very surprised to hear Angela's voice and her demand to see her. She hoped against hope that he would let her, when he closed the door and continued the conversation outside. She went downstairs to the office to start cleaning and saw their profiles on the front porch. She was able to see also that Angela was driving the fancy car today; her dad must be in town. He rarely let her drive it, and only when he was in town. She normally had her firebird, but the AM must have been easier to get out. Not sure why she was thinking of that, she'd just always liked that car and had once told Angela that she was going to own one too someday. She heard the door open and close and watched Angela stand there for a second before heading to the street; she was shocked when she saw the white Explorer pull up behind her.

Her heart ached as he trotted up the steps, she wanted to let him know she was there, but also wanted to sleep indoors tonight, so she just silently watched the exchange on the porch. Hearing him yell for her startled her, and she started to get up and walk to the office doorway, but then sat back down, unsure what to do, how far to push and really whether she wanted to or not. Even seeing him through the sheer curtains of the office he made her pulse rise and her breath quicken, but he also made her heart hurt.

She saw him stand there for a moment longer and then heard footsteps heading her way, so she stepped behind a large floor lamp and pretended as though she was wiping down the shade. "I'm sure you know that both that Angela girl and that Booth boy were here, and I want you to know that they both will not be welcome back." Lance told her as he entered the office, "I expect that you will honor our wishes and not try to contact them or foolishly risk his future by continuing to talk to him at school. It is against the law for an 18 year old to be 'intimately' involved with someone your age, you know." He was really trying to bait her and get her to break down; it always made him feel superior when he was able to get someone to break. Being a trial lawyer, he loved going in for the kill.

"Yes Sir, I understand, and I appreciate your concern for me and my wellbeing" she told him quietly. "Seeley Booth and I never had sex Sir, no matter how much it may have seemed that we did, and no matter how much you may have wanted to know about that in your twisted mind" is what she wanted to follow up with, but Temperance was like a stray dog, once bitten, twice shy. She didn't say anything else, and he left to go talk to Rebecca, and then get some early morning golf in before yard work in the afternoon. As soon as he left, she moved back to the window and saw Seeley come back from the other side of the fence, and get in the car and drive away. Temperance felt tears coming on and stood still as stone trying to force herself to not care that once again someone she loved was driving away without her.

CHAPTER 62

After cleaning the entire downstairs and feeling cooped up, Temperance was more than glad to go outside and work in the yard. Lance had come home from golf and told her that he would start in the front yard, she could start in the back and depending on the temperature and the daylight, they would start on the garage, if not they would clean the garage on Sunday. Tempe put on her jean jacket; some old garden gloves of Rebecca's and a watch cap and headed outside. She took a few minutes to just look around the yard. Fairly large, Rebecca liked to keep it meticulous. There were many flowers along the edges in raised beds, not to mention the giant tree in the back. If she had been younger Tempe thought she may have tried to climb that tree, the branches were all pretty sturdy, and looked like they were pretty easy to get to. The hardest part, she thought, would be getting into them, as they didn't start until about 10 feet off the ground. She followed one of them through the twists and turns of the nearly leafless crown and saw that it was about 2 feet from the edge of the back porch overhang. Her window was less than 6 feet from the branch itself.

She had never noticed that before. Interesting how she had never really taken the time to look at the back yard as an individual space, rather than just an extension of the house. She started raking around the large, neat shed in the back. Painted to match the exterior paint of the house, it was flush against the fence that ran down the alley behind the house. Being as their house was on the corner, most of the back yard was parallel to the street and there was a service alley behind it. Not really big enough for anything larger than a golf cart, it was primarily used for meter readers to cut time off of their routes, and for kids to smoke.

She was raking along the flower gardens along the back fence, carefully pulling the leaves off of the top layer of bark and down onto the ground when she caught a glimpse of something white fluttering by the base of the tree. Looking up to the top floor windows, they were still closed and not seeing anyone in the rooms facing the back yard, she went to investigate. It was a plastic grocery bag. Carefully she picked it up and looked inside and her stomach clenched. Booth was in there. He'd been wrapped in what looked like the bag that would come on a loaf of bread, and then placed inside the grocery bag. She thought of how Seeley had walked around the corner of the house. She'd wondered why he had come from that direction, but had assumed he may have gone to see if she was in her room. It was apparent now that he was giving her a piece of himself back. She stuffed Booth inside her jacket and went inside. Quietly, she paused by the back door and listened to see where Rebecca was. She could see Lance was in the front yard, raking by the mailbox. She heard footsteps in the kitchen and then the creak of a chair on the linoleum, so she headed upstairs. She took Booth out of the grocery bag and leaving him in the bread bag temporarily, she tucked him behind her headboard and headed back downstairs. She started to go back outside when Rebecca called her into the kitchen. "What were you doing upstairs Temperance? I hope you took off your dirty shoes first?"

"Yes Ma'am, I went to get an aspirin, I have a slight headache." She told her hoping that there was no dirt on the stairs. "Alright then, please don't run down the stairs, the rest of us don't need headaches too."

"Yes Ma'am." She said, going back outside.

She continued to work in the yard until the shadows were getting longer and longer. She noticed that the outside lights had come on at the various houses across the main road, and she heard crickets and frogs croaking. Deciding that there was nothing else she could accomplish by staying out past dark and really wanting to go inside and get warm, she put up the rake and dragged the two big bags of leaves inside the garage. She took her shoes off and went inside through the kitchen. Rebecca and Lance were already inside and appeared to be getting ready to leave for the evening. Rebecca had on a dress and heels; Lance was in slacks and a jacket. "We've been invited to a dinner party this evening by one of the partners at my firm," Lance told her, helping Rebecca latch a necklace, "Please do not make us regret leaving you alone for a couple of hours. We'll be checking in and if the phone is busy, than you will pay dearly, is that quite clear?"

"Yes Sir, I understand, I'm just going to get a sandwich and then go to my room anyway." She told him, washing her hands at the sink. She turned to go upstairs to change clothes and hang up her jacket and the Sweets left. She listened for the garage door to close and watched their taillights from her window as they drove away. She opened her window as far as it would go and climbed out and stood on the roof overhang, looking at the tree with a critical eye, she wondered if she would be able to reach back far enough on the branch that the bough wouldn't bend with her weight. She duck walked over to the branch and pushed on it w/her foot. It swayed slightly from the pressure, but appeared as though if she was brave enough to jump onto it and grab the one above it at the same time, she might be able to shimmy towards the tree itself and then climb down. The last 10 feet wouldn't be that far to fall, especially if she hung from the lowest branch and dropped. That would cut the drop to 5 and a half feet anyway. Temperance decided that she would have to give it a try one of these days. Not tonight, she was too tired from the yard work and the emotional beating she'd taken, that she didn't think it was possible.

The Sweets had been gone for about 15 minutes when the phone rang. She was startled as it started to ring as she was climbing back inside the window. She damn near fell all the way in, trying to get to it before it could stop ringing. "Hello?" she answered breathlessly. "Temperance, why are you breathing so hard?" Rebecca's asked sharply.

"I was halfway down the stairs when the phone started to ring and I ran back up to grab the upstairs extension," she said.

"Well, we were just checking to make sure you weren't on the phone. Make sure you clean up after yourself in the kitchen and turn the hallway light on in case we come home late."

"Yes Ma'am, I will." Temperance said goodbye and hung up. She made a split decision and called Angela.

"Hello." Angela's voice was flat; she hadn't even bothered to check the incoming screen. Ironically her phone had been ringing off the hook today, her dad was releasing a new album and had planned on making an announcement of a European tour and she was fielding calls from people all over the world to see if it was true. She hated it when the publicist made teaser announcements like this, it made it so difficult to just be Angela and not _his_ daughter.

"Angela, its Temperance, listen the Sweets aren't here, can you come over for a second? I have to talk to you, just park on the side, drive something normal though please? Flash your lights when you're there." Tempe hung up and her heart tried to beat itself out of her chest. She hoped that Rebecca hadn't dialed right back, and she hoped that Angela understood all of that.

Temperance ran down the stairs, taking childlike pleasure in stomping as loud and hard as she could on the way and went to the kitchen. Grabbing an apple and a juice box she went to the garage to put on her sneakers and to wait by the back door. Finishing up the apple and juice at roughly the same time, she threw them away and started over to the garage sink when there was a squeal of tires and a rapid flash of lights. Smiling and shaking her head, she went to the fence standing between the road and they yard. Hoisting herself into the flower bed, she peered over the top of the fence and waited until Angela cut the lights completely and could see her.

"SWEETIE, OH MY GOD TEMPER, HOW ARE YOU?" Angela's voice was hoarse, but she was hurrying around the side of the car as fast as she could. She reached into the passenger seat and pulled out a black box, placing it on the ground she stood on it and reached up to hold Temperance's shoulders, "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" she asked as soon as she made contact.

Laughing at her friend, so glad she was able to see her, Tempe said, "I'm okay. They took everything away, the radio, my books everything; I can't work or go to the library. But, I do get to do more chores and live under constant suspicion so it's all working out according to plan."

Angela rolled her eyes and said, "Tell me everything!" Temperance took the next 20 minutes to tell her what had happened since the last time they had talked, she stopped when she arrived at the phone call she'd made to Angela. "Speaking of which, you live like a half hour from me, how did you get her so fast?"

Angela didn't know what to say, she wanted to tell her the truth, but something in the way that Tempe had described the pictures she had and the note made her reluctant. Angela decided that she had to be honest, "I was at Seeley's"

"Oh" Tempe said trying to fake casual. "How is he?"

"Temper-he's devastated. He thinks this is his fault, he doesn't know what to do, he's tried calling Payton and all he gets is her voicemail, he's been planning everything from a robin hood rescue to a runaway" she told her friend.

"It is his fault." Temperance's voice was hard. She was saying out loud what she'd been thinking most of the day. Just then Angela's phone rang, "Hold on Temper" she said, jumping off of the box.

"Hello, yeah, No, I'm here now. I don't know, listen I'll tell you when I get back, no, NO, I don't think that's a good idea, she's pretty upset, I don't want to, no-that's not what I meant, okay, okay, don't talk to me like that Junior, I said okay, I'll ask, hold on."

Turning to look up at the pale face of her closest friend Angela held her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone and said, "Do you want to talk to Seeley?"

"No"

"Honey, he's really upset, please just talk to him for a second."

"No"

"Seeley, I tried, she doesn't want to talk to you. No, I'm not going to do that, because Seeley she's my best friend and that means more than you do right now, I'm sorry. Tell Wendell I'll call him later, I'm not coming back over there. Okay, I'll try. Okay, I will. You too. G'night." She hung up the phone and put it into her pocket.

"Is Wendell there too?" Temperance asked, hearing only her side of the conversation, she could only imagine what all Seeley was saying.

"Yeah, he and Fischer came over this afternoon. I guess Daisy and Fischer are on the outs too, they actually came over to hang out and he told them what happened. Wendell called me and I went over to see what all we could do for you." She paused and climbed back up on the box. "What is wrong with you Temperance? Why don't you want to talk to him? He's practically in tears; he was on his way over here too, until the two of them could get him talked out of it. What did you mean it was his fault?"She stopped, wanting to hear what Temperance had to say.

"He kissed her Angela, he kissed her the same day he told me he loved me, he's kissed her twice in the last month that I know about, thanks to the photographic evidence that ruined my life, as pitiful as it was. Look, I'm tired of being hurt. Before I met him I never wondered what it would be like to have a boyfriend, I didn't worry about what I was wearing, where I was and when I had to be home. I was able to go to the library, I had radio conversations with you, and I had Max and you and the museum. Now I have nothing. I'm better off not being with him, it's too hard. I'm glad you came over, I miss you and I'll do what I can to see you, but I'm not ready for him right now. In fact, I have to go; I don't know when the Sweets are coming back. Thank you for coming to see me and I'll try to call the museum to talk to you later. Bye Ange, I love you." Temperance jumped down and hurried into the house.

Angela stood there dumbstruck. She leaned against the fence and pulled her phone out, "Did you get that Seeley?" she said and hung up. Grabbing the box she put it back into the car she'd borrowed from the chef and got into her car. She could not believe what Temperance had just said. She'd never looked at it from that angle before, she only saw two people who were meant to be together and who were being forced apart by parents and a psychopath. She didn't know that Temperance would see it as betrayal and not just an actual coincidence. Angela was also angry at Seeley having heard the hurt in Temperance's voice, she sat and thought about it too, the kiss at the party, okay, he was drugged supposedly; she got that, but the one outside his house? There was no reason for that. If the dates were right, it was after the church one too. Wondering if Seeley was playing a game with both of them, Angela drove home. She needed to call one person and one person only and she needed to be home to do it.

Seeley looked at the phone in his hand like it was alive. He'd just heard his girlfriend tell her best friend that she wasn't 'ready' for him and then had been hung up on by that same friend. He sat down on the end of his bed, and rubbed his hand over his face. He hadn't shaved in a couple of days, and had a nice bit of stubble covering his lower jaw. Wendell and Fischer had wisely left the room after he told Angela to pretend to hang up, and he was glad. He couldn't handle his two best friends right now. He was sure when he went downstairs they would want to know what had happened, and he didn't know what to say. It was true, he kissed her at the party, but hell, he would have kissed anyone there, he barely remembered any of it, and he had kissed her outside his house, but that was an accident. He wasn't trying to kiss her mouth; he thought she was going for a kiss to his cheek. Looking through the pictures to the one in question, it appeared to him like he was pulling away in fact.

He never put the two together that he had professed his love to Temperance the same day that Payton tricked him into the kiss against the wall at Mack's house. He was going to go over to Payton's house tomorrow as soon as he could get out of church. She was crazy if she thought this was going to bring him back to her. Even if Temperance never spoke to him again, he was never going to go back to Payton. It just crushed him though that Temperance thought it was his fault. He was going to make this right on Monday. First thing, he was going to be at her locker, and he was going to make her talk to him. One way or another, he'd told her once that all he wanted was for her to be happy, with him or without him, and he was going to stick with that.

He wondered briefly if she'd found Booth in the back yard and hoped that she would find the note he left her. Heading downstairs, he wondered what it would be like to get drunk and just forget all of this was happening…

*FAN FICTION READERS HAD TO RE-POST THE STORY THIS WAY! I'M SORRY! MK


	3. Chapter 63 thru 67

*FAN FICTION FOLKS! NO ONE PANIC! HAD TO REPOST AGAIN TO GET THEM ALL INTO A MORE USER FRIENDLY POSTING FORMAT----CHAPTER 67 IS AT THE END! I PROMISE, I'LL FIGURE THIS SITE OUT AS SOON AS I CAN!!!!!! THANKS FOR ALL THE GOOD VIBES AND COMMENTS YOU ALL ROCK… MK

CHAPTER 63

Temperance made sure the kitchen was clean and turned on the hall light before going upstairs to her empty room. She stood at her window, the only light from the street lamp outside. She pressed her forehead against the ice cold glass and thought of him. Running her fingers against the glass she wondered if she was wrong. She thought it had been love. She thought of him when he wasn't there, she could bring his smile, his laugh and his warm chocolate gaze to life in an instant behind her closed eyes. Her skin burned at his touch, her fingers tingled when she touched his. That was love right? Maybe she was allergic to him, which caused her to have hallucinations? That was an angle she hadn't explored yet. She smiled stupidly and thought, maybe I should be hyper scientific, perhaps it's a chemical imbalance that causes these reactions?

Seeley headed downstairs and straight past his friends, he grabbed his letter jacket and his keys and went straight to his truck. He started it and backed out of the driveway without turning on his lights. Wendell, Fischer and Jared followed him outside, all of them asking where he was going. Seeley pointed the car towards her house. He had to know himself; he had to hear her say it to him. He didn't care what Lance Sweets said, he wasn't an idiot, and he knew the laws, had looked them up after Payton claimed she was pregnant in fact. Besides, he was itching to pound something and he couldn't go to Zams, they were fixing the boards for the upcoming season.

She watched the headlights as they arrived and passed by outside, it had started to softly rain, so they were blurry. She was tracing the patterns on the glass and letting her mind wander through the nightmare that had been life the past 24 hours when she noticed lights that didn't turn off. She refocused on the street and saw him. Standing in front of his truck, hands in his pockets, the rain no more a factor than the cold. He was staring at the window his eyes hollow with sadness. Temperance took a deep breath and put her hand flush against the glass.

He pulled to the side of the street and parked the truck. Getting out he saw her silhouette in the darkened room. She was tracing the water droplets on the glass and she looked so alone his heart clenched in his chest. Getting out of the truck, he walked around to the front. Content now just to watch her, he so badly ached to hold her that he had his hands clenched in his pockets to keep from hurdling the fence. Willing her to see him, he simply stared, the water running down his neck and his face was ignored, even the spray of passing cars didn't register. He saw her place her palm against the glass when she did see him and he opened his palm and placed it flat against his heart.

Tempe saw his gesture and choked back a sob and a smile. She needed more time. She didn't have enough time, she was sure, she was confused. He was gesturing to her to open the window, she wasn't sure she should, the Sweets could come home any minute, but she did as he asked, silently, she opened the window and leaned out.

"I love you. No matter what remember that Temperance, no matter what." He hollered up at her. She smiled sadly and closed her eyes. Opening them again, she saw that he was closer, "I mean it Bone Lady, I love you."

She said quietly.

He gestured at her to open her window, she hesitated and he knew she was thinking about it, over thinking it, rationalizing, but she opened it. "I love you. No matter what remember that Temperance, no matter what," he yelled. He saw her close her eyes and take a deep breath, he moved closer to the fence, "I mean it Bone Lady, I love you."

"Go away Seeley, I can't do this right now. Please." He barely heard her and his gut twisted. He heard her close the window and pull the curtain closed. He stood there a moment later and waited until he could breathe before getting in the Explorer and speeding off, barely missing a car as he merged into traffic.

Temperance closed the window and drew the curtain closed. Leaning her head against the nubby material she whispered, "I think I love you too Seeley."

CHAPTER 64B

Temperance heard him squeal away and felt terrible for being so hard on him. She didn't know what else to do though; did he know those photos' were being taken? Why did he kiss her? Was it all a trick the seniors cooked up to embarrass her more? What about school? How could she go back to school now? One she would have to change her schedule and two, she'd have to face them all. She flopped back on her bed and put her arms over her head. What an idiot! She thought I was a total idiot to believe that I could fit in with them; she wondered how long they'd planned this and then wondered if Zack was in on it too. It was rather convenient that he showed up at the University lecture, and then started working at the museum. Then she realized that Max and Angela would have had to be in on it too, and she knew that neither one of them would hurt her like that. She just couldn't understand why she was the target. She'd never even talked to any of them prior to now. She certainly hadn't asked to be singled out; she also hadn't asked to fall in love with Seeley.

She groaned and put one arm across her stomach just thinking of him. She got up and risking the wrath of the Sweets again, she called his cell phone, she wanted to tell him to be safe, even if she wasn't ready to talk to him, she would just tell him to be safe if he answered. When the phone rolled to voicemail, she hung up. He was probably screening his calls, she reasoned. It never occurred to her that he wouldn't recognize the phone number, or that he wasn't answering it at all.

Heading back into her room, she grabbed her pajamas and got ready to go to bed. While she was brushing her teeth, she remembered that Booth was behind the headboard and she hastily rinsed her mouth and darted back into her room. She closed the door and got her flashlight out just in case the Sweets came home, it was just before 11 and they hadn't called again, and even though it felt good to have a secret again, she wasn't looking forward to losing her stuffed dog again. She reached behind the headboard and pulled him out. Slightly damp from the little bit of condensation that had accumulated before she found him that morning, she turned him over in her hands and then pulled him in close for a hug. He was real. Even if nothing else was, he was real and the memory of her first kiss was forever attached to this dog and nothing would ever take that away.

Rubbing her cheek on his soft fur face, she felt the slight scratch of paper, and turning on the flashlight, she looked and saw a rolled up piece of paper in his collar. Her heart dropped slightly, lately rolled up or small pieces of paper had not been kind. She unrolled the notebook paper and saw that it was full of scribbles and doodles, and crossed out biology notes, in her handwriting. At the bottom there was a heart with the words Temperance Booth written in there, along with some other hearts and things doodled with Seeley's name and hers. She realized this was the same piece of notebook paper she'd thrown away the day that they had eaten lunch in the car, the day after she was on cloud nine and invincible. Wondering how the hell he had gotten it when she knew that she'd thrown it away, she turned it over and in his neat but masculine handwriting, he'd written,

Tempe,

This was in the package of photo's I received. At first, I was completely blown away that you would have thought of you and I forever linked, sharing a last name and a future. Then I realized that you never intended me to see this, and I was unsure of how to feel about that. I do know that I never intended for you to get hurt, I'm sure you must be. As well as confused about the pictures you've seen. I can only imagine what must have happened at your house and I'm so sorry for my part in all of this. I need to talk to you, and I hope you let me. If you can't find it in yourself to let me explain, apologize or whatever it will take to get 'us' back, then I accept that, I may not understand or like it, but I will accept it. I just want you to be happy. With me or without me and I'll do whatever you want, I'll stay or go, whatever you need to be happy.

Love, Seeley

Temperance read and re-read the note, tracing the words he'd written. She didn't know what to think anymore. Was this for real or just another part of the elaborate plan to ostracize her and ruin her life, was she really just another in a long line of students in his 'dork outreach program'? She hated that her mind was here, in this place, so full of doubt and disbelief in his sincerity. She just couldn't get past the photos of him kissing her, and on the days that he did it too. That's what was making her feel like he wasn't being honest with her. The dates were just too coincidental.

She decided that it didn't matter; she would worry about talking to him later. She put Booth back into the bag, with the note and tucked him back behind the headboard again; she'd take him back to school on Monday, that way she wouldn't lose him at the hands of Rebecca. Indecision or not, Booth was a link to her first kiss, her first love and regardless of how real it was for him, it was everything to her, so she was going to keep the dog as close as she could. She turned the flashlight off and turned over on her side. Her mind slowly churning through the last month, the hundreds of highs and lows and the wonderful feelings they had brought. She was sound asleep by the time the Sweets came home and didn't hear them come in. They made a cursory check on her, and then headed off to their own room.

She didn't even wake when the phone rang and Lance answered it. "Who was it?" Rebecca asked sleepily from their room, she was slightly tipsy and had quickly drifted to sleep; the ringing of the phone was very annoying in her present state. "I don't know, they hung up." He told her crawling back into the bed, "I'm sure it was a wrong number, no one would be dumb enough to call this late for any other reason" he finished. Rebecca was already asleep but he wondered what if it was for Tempe? Deciding that she wasn't going to try anything so soon after her last stunt, he turned over and went to sleep himself.

The morning sun cresting the hills woke Seeley up; he'd wanted to get an early start on the chores he knew Pops had for him. Pop's had been awake when he got home last night and was not happy with him. "Where you been Shrimp?" he asked when Seeley came through the door, shoes in his hand and without the need for lights. "I needed to clear my head Pops, do some thinking." He told him, putting his jacket and shoes away. "You might have thought about calling home, your brother and friends were worried about you. Jared just went upstairs a half hour or so ago, and I'm sure you just missed the boys by about 10 minutes or so."

"I'm sorry Pops, I should have called." He told him, sitting across from the still form in the recliner.

"Everything you need to know about life is inside you Shrimp, you're a good boy, and you have a good head and a good heart. Sometimes you have to take time for yourself, and I understand that, but remember in that time, there are other people with you in their thoughts, and you shouldn't take that for granted. Where did you go, if you don't mind me asking?"

Seeley sat there quietly for a second, digesting what his grandfather was telling him. He knew now that he should've called, he and Jared had been through a lot, and even though they didn't get along much now, when they were younger, they were all they had. He felt bad for making his brother and his friends worry, but he felt worse for making his Pops suffer. He was the last person he wanted to worry about him. "I'm sorry Pops, I am, I wasn't thinking. I went to the park for awhile and then I drove around and then…" he paused and took a deep breath, his voice cracked when he continued, "then I went to Harbinger street and checked out the house."

"Get any answers there?" Hank asked, his heart was tight for the boy. That house was nothing but bad memories for him, and although Seeley may still cling to the few good ones he'd had there, Pops wanted nothing to do with it.

"Yes and no Pops, it didn't feel like I thought it would, but I still felt small and helpless for a few minutes, but then I knew I would be okay when I left."

"That's good Shrimp, that's the way it should be, that house hasn't a hold on you anymore and neither do the memories. Did you see your girl tonight? I'm assuming that's where you went?" He knew something had happened between the two of them, just not exactly what.

"Yes sir, I saw her, I didn't get to talk to her like I wanted, but I saw her."

"Well, don't let that 'scared little rabbit' get the best of her, she's going to want to hide behind it and you'll just need to wait her out, I can see it, she's a good girl and she'll need you to be patient. Does that make sense?" he told him.

"Yes Sir, it does, I understand. I love you Pops, thanks."

"I love you too Shrimp, now, it's time for the two of us to go to bed, check on Cricket and make sure he's okay, would you? I'm going to lock up and be right behind you. Oh, and you do know there are chores for you tomorrow right?" his Pops threw the last bit out with a smile.

"Yeah Pops, I'm sure there will be." He hugged his grandpa and headed upstairs. Peering into his brother's room, he saw that he was asleep with his phone in his hand and his shoes and jacket still on. Taking the phone out of his hand and his shoes off, he pulled a blanket off the floor up to cover him and went to his own room. "G'night Jarhead" he said at the door.

CHAPT ER 64C

Temperance and Lance began working on the garage shortly after breakfast on Sunday morning and worked steadily through lunch. They'd removed everything from the shelves and were currently filling and dragging garbage bags to the street. They hadn't said anything to each other more interactive than instructions from him and acquiescence from her. She was intently pulling a bag to the curb when she heard a familiar voice say, "Tempe! Heads up!" she turned just in time to see a football lobbed in her direction. Letting go of the bag she reached up and grabbed it and pulled it in close. Laughing she said, "Hey guys! What are you doing here?" completely forgetting where she was. She walked over to Wendell and Fischer and gave them both big hugs. "Well, we were just walking by going over to the school to play a little touch ball and there you were, so we decided to say hello." Wendell told her, looking over her shoulder at the tall man that had stopped and was watching them from the shadows of the garage. "Yeah, Cinderella, whatcha up to? A little fall cleaning?"Fischer chimed in.

"Something like that," she said remembering where she was, she turned to see Lance coming down the driveway and whispered, "Stay here for a second ok guys?" Lance came down to the trio and said, "Temperance, are these boys bothering you?" Although just as tall as the boys, they each had him by about 50 pounds of sheer adolescent football muscle. "No Sir, this is Wendell Bray and Colin Fischer, they play football for St. Agnes, guys, this is my fost-my dad Lance Sweets" she stepped aside and hoped that he would be cool, "Gentlemen, it's a pleasure to meet friends of my daughters'" and he reached to shake each of their hands. Temperance had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep her jaw from dropping. Turning towards her he said, "Don't be too long Temperance, we still have a lot of work to do."

Eyes wide, she handed the football back to Wendell and said, "Well, that was weird, guess I'm going to get yelled out when you are out of ear shot." She smiled at both of them and continued, "I'm glad you stopped by though, I wasn't sure what to expect from everyone to be honest."

"It wasn't your fault kiddo, so don't sweat it. Your friends are going to support you and Seeley both. Plus, I've got plans for Ms. Perotta." Fischer said, giving her a wink and a grin, "You'd better hustle back to work, we'll see you tomorrow okay?" he leaned in and gave her a back breaking hug and Wendell said, "He loves you, give him a chance okay?"

"I don't know if I can Wendell" She told him looking down, "Things are definitely strained right now."

"I get it kid, see you tomorrow." He picked her up and hugged her tight and set her down, waving towards the garage he said loudly, "It was nice to meet you Mr. Sweets" and winking the two of them sauntered off to where Fischer's car was parked around the corner. Tempe waved and grabbed the neck of the garbage bag and muscled it back to the curb.

She took a deep breath and walked back into the garage to start filling another bag with debris. "Are those the people you hang out with at school?" Lance asked pulling off his gloves.

Temperance turned and looked at him and said levelly, "Yes, I hang out with them as well as a few other people, it depends on what they have going on though. They're pretty busy with sports, so I don't see them that often. I also hang out with Seeley." She wasn't sure she should tell him that, but didn't see how it would hurt now anyway.

"It seems odd that three senior football players would have such close interest in a sophomore, it makes me wonder what motives they may have, I'm sure you understand, I'm only thinking of your well being, Temperance." His fatherly tone grated on her nerves and she said, "Well, I'm not sleeping with any of them, they're just my friends. Sometimes we have lunch together; sometimes we sit together in class or if there is an assembly. Other than that, I don't have anything to do with them, Wendell and Angela are dating and Fischer is dating a cheerleader." She added as an afterthought. Turning back to the bag she wanted to tell him to mind his own business and leave her alone, but she didn't, just got back to work.

Mercifully he went back to wiping down the now empty shelves and restocking the items that they were going to keep without another word. Grateful for the respite from his insinuations and questions, Tempe got back into the routine of cleaning and allowed her mind to wander through what could happen tomorrow.

~Meanwhile~

Seeley sat on the front porch of her house and waited for them to return from church. He'd gotten up early and did most of the chores his grandfather had asked of him. He was planning on going to a later service this afternoon when he was sure he would need all the help he could get from his faith. He'd been sitting there for about 45 minutes when the Colonel pulled up and parked the car. Christine and the Colonel got out of the car first and Seeley met them on the way down the stairs, "hello Mrs. Perotta, Colonel." He nodded his head at the two of them, "do you mind if I talk to Payton for a few minutes?"

Payton had been edging towards the door when Christine said, "No Seeley, of course not, would you like to come in? You two can talk in the parlor?"

"Thank you Ma'am that would be nice." He told her, his smile broad and friendly. Colonel Perotta opened the door and the two men stood aside and let the ladies in, "would you like something to drink?" Christine asked. "Oh no Ma'am, I'm fine, Payton, would you like something?" he turned to her with a smile.

"No thanks Mom; Seeley won't be here long," she said, "Seeley, what's up?" She asked taking her gloves off and heading to the parlor ahead of him.

"I think you know 'what's up' Payton. Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you've caused with your little stunt?" she started to answer and he put his hand up and said quietly, "you've messed with the wrong people Payton, you've sent harassing and graphic cell phone pictures to the daughter of a celebrity, not to mention you've gotten photos' of that same girl without her permission which you copied and distributed, you've also gotten photo's of Max Keenan and my grandfather, both of which you had no right to take. You've paid someone to take those photos, plus make an incriminating DVD and sound recordings of private conversations. You've caused Temperance to lose her job, as well as interfered with her college credits and her home life is completely wrecked because of your little blackmail attempt. Yes, this is blackmail, and when you involved Angela and Max, you didn't stop to think that they would pursue legal action did you?" he stopped and realized he was dangerously close to shaking her senseless. He clenched his fists and stepped away from her.

Incensed at his accusations, Payton tried to save face, "You can't prove any of that Seeley Booth, and you can't prove I had anything to do with it!"

"Really?" he said, "Do you think that the girls you hang out are all that loyal to you? Daisy rolled over as soon as Fischer told her he was breaking up with her, she's spilled everything and now Angela's lawyers are going to be talking to her, I've already given them the photos' you sent me, along with the text from my phone, and the text to Angela's phone. In fact, as soon as I opened that little care package, I called Angela and she called her lawyers. I wouldn't be surprised if you get a visit real soon from the boys in blue in fact. It's called stalking Payton, and its illegal!" he shook his head and said, "You're pretty dumb, you should have just accepted the fact that it was over. Not only is this going to get worse for you from the legal side of things, but just wait until the school finds out. They do have a very high ethics code remember? Expulsion is most likely given the stalking, blackmail and harassment you're going to be charged with, because even if Angela doesn't follow through, that still leaves Max and me. Angela has already told me that she will foot the bill for whatever legal action we decide to pursue and we will pursue it, you can bet on that." His voice was deadly calm.

"The school will find out, you have detention tomorrow remember? There is no one going to stop Wendell, Fischer and me from letting Monsignor Cullen know just exactly what you've done. Not only that, but the two little flunkies you got to do this, that kid Eddie and Roxie both are just as culpable as you, because he took the photos' and accepted money for them, and Roxie drugged me. That's probably going to make it even worse, because she'll most likely roll over on whoever gave her the drugs, and let's see whose brother is a pharmacist? Oh, Caroline's right, guess he probably wouldn't want to be dragged into all of this either." The whole time he was talking Payton's face was getting paler and paler. At no time in her angry planning of the stunt to break them up did she take into account all the minor players' involvement. Or how that would all come tumbling down and turn into the mess it was rapidly shaking up to be.

"So, Payton, I hope you were ready for all of that? I mean, it seems like an awful lot to deal with on top of being dumped by your boyfriend." His last words were what shook her out of her reverie and made her realize that there was no way she could get out of this. "Seeley, you wouldn't do all that would you? I mean, we've been friends since we were in grade school, we dated for 4 years! You wouldn't hurt me like that would you?" she turned her big, hurt eyes to him, "all I wanted was a second chance, I just wanted my Seeley back." She had put her hand on his chest and was leaning into him, speaking quietly.

Seeley shook her hand off and stepped back, "Sorry chick, I'm not falling for that again, and you are the one that told me you didn't need me, guess you were wrong huh?" he said spitefully. "Seeley, please, please don't say anything, I'm sorry. I'm sorry she lost her job and I'm sorry about all of it, please Seeley don't tell on me, don't do this!" her voice was panicked and getting higher with hysteria. Afraid that her dad and mom would come in, she tried hard to rein herself in, "Please Seeley" she whispered.

"Sorry Payton, your time of manipulating me is over, you should have thought of the big picture long before now, I hope your parents have a good legal team though, because they're gonna need one." He smiled and turned to leave the parlor, Christine was just coming down the stairs and he said, "Good afternoon Mrs. Perotta" and nodded as he let himself out.

Christine went into the parlor where Payton was sitting alone, her gloves and hat discarded on the floor, her eyes wet with tears and her face pale. "Oh my Payton, what's wrong?"

Payton stared at her hands twisting in her lap and then focusing on her mom said, "Seeley and I broke up, well he broke up with me, I don't want to talk about it." She got up, leaving her stuff on the floor and ran up the stairs to her room. She wasn't even sure where to start, she thought she should call Caroline, or Daisy, but felt overwhelmed. It was just supposed to be a harmless prank, just a way to get back at him. She didn't even really care about him anymore to be honest; she just wanted to embarrass him for announcing to the senior class that he broke up with her. She didn't know the stupid twit would lose her job or her friend would actually call her lawyers. That is what scared her the most; she knew that her parents didn't have the resources to protect her. Payton was never more scared in her entire life than she was as Seeley was leaving her house.

Seeley headed straight to church, he had missed both sessions, but he tried hard to be at church every Sunday, and he needed to be there today. He bowed his head and crossed his chest before sliding into a pew. At first he had nothing to offer, but then after the calm of the chapel seeped into his body he was able to give thanks, and ask for forgiveness. He stayed a few more minutes and then got up to go meet Fischer and Wendell as planned.

Once he got to Fischer's house, he told them how his talk with Payton had gone and they told him that they had gone to see Tempe. "You what?" he asked incredulously, "did she say anything? Did she get in trouble?"

"No, actually she was cleaning the garage with the dad and he came over to where we were standing and she introduced him to us, he was pretty creepy and she asked us to stay close as he was walking over." Wendell said, "I think we intimidated him though, he was a nice as pie and told her not to be all day, and she had work to do still."

Wendell and Fischer shared a glance, neither one of them really wanted to address the most important part of his question to them. Fischer was just starting to outline what they had planned when Seeley asked again, "Did she say anything about me?" he looked from one friend to the other.

Fischer cleared his throat and half heartedly waited for Wendell to jump in and when he didn't, he said, "Well, Bray told her that you loved her and she said, well…she said, um"

"Just tell me"

"Oh man, she said, she didn't know if she could give you a chance and that things were strained right now." He wasn't comfortable in this roll at the best of times, and now really wasn't any better.

"Oh" he said, "Well, maybe I'll get the chance to talk to her tomorrow" he turned to Fischer and said with fake enthusiasm, "So, what's this great idea you had?"

Fischer outlined the plan to Seeley and although he thought it was petty and potentially going to backfire, he told him that it sounded like it would be fun. He wished the two of them luck and told them he had to go finish some things for Pops, so he'd see them on Monday. Monday was shaping up to be one hell of a day as it turned out.

CHAPTER 65

Temperance and Lance finished up the garage and after dinner she went straight to her room and made sure that her homework was in order and that she had clean uniforms for school, Rebecca had long since stopped doing her laundry. She pulled the note out from the bag with Booth in it and re-read it. She believed that he believed what he was saying, but she just couldn't get the images out of her head. She didn't know what she was going to do on Monday; she just hoped that she would be able to make it through the day without having a major catastrophe. Crawling into bed, she just hoped for the best and fell asleep.

Monday morning Seeley got up and dressed in the school uniform he'd been wearing since 6th grade, when he had moved to this school district. He hadn't slept well and a small part of him wanted to stay home and just forget the world.

Monday morning Temperance got up and dressed in the school uniform she had come to both long to be at, and chafe to escape from. She also hadn't slept well and wasn't really looking forward to what was going to happen when she got there. Checking to make sure that Booth was in the bag, she went downstairs and grabbed a muffin and some juice, and waited patiently for Lance to take her to school. "Your mom will meet you out front after school, please do not be late." He told her.

"Okay" she said.

Once they arrived at the school he dropped her off and said, "Say hello to your friends for me." She just looked at him and got out of the car, shaking her head, she wondered what fresh realm of hell she had just entered where Lance and the guys were concerned. She went inside and straight to her locker, her head down, and when she got there, she looked up into his warm brown eyes. "Hi Tempe" he said quietly. Taking a deep breath, she wasn't expecting to see him so early. "Hi Seeley." She started to open her locker and the football and hoody started to slide out, he reached over and grabbed them and said, "Here, let me help."

She stepped back, her nerves stretched to the breaking point. "Thank you." She told him as he held them and then when she had her books and stuff back in the locker, she started to put her jacket in there and things started to slide again, once again, he reached over to help her and she said quietly, "Stop. Please. Stop helping me, I've got it."

Seeley didn't know what to do. He'd never heard her speak like that before. He didn't know if she meant it, or was just trying to be independent, so he moved around her to put his hand on the avalanche of things in the locker, which by now was over half his anyway. Temperance snapped. "STOP IT SEELEY! I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP, JUST LET ME DO IT! I'M NOT SOME DUMMY THAT NEEDS YOU TO HOLD MY HAND AND DO THINGS FOR ME, I'M NOT STUPID AND I DON'T NEED YOU!!" while she was yelling at him she grabbed his stuff and threw it at him, "PLEASE, JUST LEAVE ME ALONE-I can't do this anymore, I just can't. You tell me these things about how you feel about me and us and then I see you kissing your ex girlfriend and you just keep telling me that it's not true, but I've seen it Seeley, I've seen the proof. Just leave me alone, I've lost EVERYTHING! Do you know what that feels like? I've lost my job, my friends, my freedom and I didn't even have that much of them to begin with, but because of you and your stupid ex girlfriend I have even less! I was happy before I met you, I didn't have much, but I was happy. So, please just leave me alone!" she slammed the locker door shut and walked away, Alana and Kersten had come up when they heard the shouting and wanted to make sure that she was okay. Temperance had tears streaming down her face as they escorted her to the ladies room. The bell had already rung, but they would take the tardy slips.

Seeley watched her walk away, he was shocked and stood there holding his things and wondering just what had happened. He knew that she was upset, but he had no idea how upset she was. He stood there alone in the full hallway, half holding the things that he had thought she would think were hers. He watched her new friends take her to the ladies room and balling up the things he had given her; he opened her locker up and put them back inside. He didn't want them anymore. He took a piece of notebook paper from his book and wrote a short note and added it to the pile of things in the locker. Before closing it, he took his wallet out, removed another picture and put it on the note, closing the door he walked off to the senior hall to get ready for his day. There was proof that rumors start faster than dry wood, by the time he'd made it to the senior hallway, he'd already heard about what had just happened by the whispers in the hallway.

Seeing Wendell and Fischer waiting by the bank of lockers that the jocks all shared, he said, "So how did your plan work?"

Fischer grinned his little sneaky smile, rubbed his hands together and said "it is coming along very nicely"

Wendell, always the sensitive one noticed that Seeley was just a little bit off, "Did you get to see Tempe this morning?" he asked, grabbing his books out his locker.

Nodding Seeley said, "Yeah, I saw her, she told me she didn't need me and to leave her alone, that this was all my fault and then she stormed off with her girlfriends. I guess that means I'm rolling stag to the dance, so just the three of us huh?" he forced a smile and fist bumped a startled Fischer and then said, "I'll see you guys at lunch, lets hit the diner, k?" and then he was gone, whistling down the hallway. Wendell and Fischer just looked at each other, shook their heads and headed off to class.

At lunch Alana, Tempe, Kersten and Sammy sat together and Tempe told them all what had happened, she asked them if they thought she had done the right thing. Kersten told her if it was her, she'd go straight to Payton's house and demand the truth, and the other two smirked and told her that before any of this all went down, she was happy too. He was the reason she was happy, so maybe she should give him the benefit of the doubt. Tempe was confused, she wanted to believe him, and she just didn't want to get hurt anymore. On the other hand, she knew that if he was telling the truth that she was just hurting him and that wasn't fair either. She decided to just give it a rest and worry about it later; after all, she had nowhere to be tonight, so she could dwell on it then.

The four of them headed back to class and Tempe told them she was going to get her coat out of the locker, she was getting cold and she had time before biology. The girls told her they'd see her after class, she now had home ec after biology so she and Alana would go there together. Opening her locker for the first time since this morning, she was surprised to see the white note and picture. Looking at it closer, it was the picture he had kept from their picture strip taken by the booth at the park. Turning it over, she saw that he had written the date and below that in his cramped writing, 'first kiss-wow'.

Tempe blinked back the sudden onslaught of tears and read the short note;

T-

I hope you'll be happy now. I'm sorry.

S

She turned it over to see if there was more, but that was it. She saw that he had put all of his things back in there, except his books and the stuff he needed for class. The hoody, jersey, football and cap were all in there. She took Booth out of her bag and stuck him on top of the pile; he looked sad and lonely standing at the top of her memories as she wiped the tears from her eyes and held the last note tight in her hand. She tucked the small picture into the inner pocket of her jacket and softly closed the door to go to class.

CHAPTER 66M

Laying down for sleep that evening Temperance decided to try to compartmentalize her reactions to the pictures of Seeley and Payton and see if she could form rational explanations for the feelings that he brought to mind. She pictured him in her mind, tall, athletic, broad shoulders, narrow waist and strong, sure hands. He had expressive, warm eyes, generous lips and a strong jaw. She closed her eyes and smiled as she remembered the feeling of those hands on her body, the way he smelled and how he tasted. She thought of how much she had shared with him, and how gentle he'd been, how much she wanted to learn more about him and learn more about the two of them, she wanted him to be the one that taught her how to love, she knew that. She just couldn't get past the image of him being so close to Payton still. That was her main stumbling block. Sighing, she rolled over and pulled the comforter up around her chin. She was facing the window and could see a slight sliver of light from the moon through the part in the curtains. Watching it, she fell asleep.

Turning off the outside light and then the hall light, the Sweets went to bed shortly after she did. The house settled into a night of slumber and blended into the shadows from the trees outside. The rare car driving by would splash the side fence with headlights, but no one paid any heed to the older SUV parked back down the street, in shadow itself, the lone occupant watching the house quietly. Bent on their own business elsewhere, no one noticed him climb the backyard fence, nor did they notice the way he deftly climbed the tree in the backyard, or shimmy down the biggest branch and leap lightly, as lightly as a football player can, to the porch roof. He paused long enough to catch his breath and to make sure there was no movement from inside, no lights, nothing. Once he was sure there was nobody stirring, he crept quietly to the window and looked through the slightly parted curtains.

She was turned to towards the window, her hand cupped under her cheek; she was snuggled down into the comforter, her face serene in sleep. He simply watched her for a few minutes, his breath ragged as he tried to tell himself that it was for the best. He turned to leave, he wasn't satisfied, but he was starting to feel like a creepy little stalker himself. Just as he shifted his feet to begin the crabwalk back to the tree branch, she stirred and rolled over. He had the sudden urge to talk to her, to touch her. He lightly tapped on the window and waited to see if she had woke up enough in her rollover to hear it.

He tapped again and she stirred and sat up. Blinking, she looked at the window and put her hand over her mouth as her eyes went wide. She pushed the comforter off of her and walked over to her door, opening it quietly she looked down the hallway and then shut and locked it. She crept back to the window and opened it slightly, "What are you doing here?" She hissed.

"I had to see you." He said simply, "Can I come in?"

"TO MY ROOM?" she staged whispered, "are you out of your freakin' mind?"

"Just for a second, I promise, if we hear anything, I'm back out the door and onto the ground, 2 seconds, tops" his eyes pleaded with her and she just didn't have the will to fight anymore. Telling him to be quiet, she pushed the window open all the way and he came inside.

She stood uncertainly before him, small and so childlike in her pajamas and then she stepped into his arms and let him hug her close to his much larger frame. "Seeley, I'm so sorry." She cried quietly into his chest as his arms tightened around her. "Shhh baby, I've got you, it's okay" he said softly as he held her and slightly rocked, he was just so glad to be holding her again that he didn't care that he was breaking about a hundred rules just by being in her room. He leaned up against the window and an involuntary shiver went through his body. "Here" she told him pointing to the edge of the bed, "lean against the bed, I'll sit by you okay?"

He looked at the single bed and sighed, "Do you think that is a good idea?"

"It's either that or we go outside and sit on the roof of the porch, which would you prefer?" she told him with a slight smirk. He missed her little sarcastic comments, so just smiled and said, "I prefer to be inside" and tapped her on the butt before he went and leaned against the bed. She pulled a blanket from the foot of the bed and put it over her legs as she sat down next to him and leaned into his shoulder. "Here, I have a better idea," he told her, indicating she should sit in between his legs and lean up against her, he put the blanket over both of them, "there, now you're closer."

She leaned back into him, and holding his hand realized this is where she wanted to be all along. "What happened to us Seeley?" she asked him, still whispering.

"We were ambushed by that blonde psycho and her psycho friends I guess. They took pictures they shouldn't have of things that were ours and gave them to your guardians and some creepy kid has copies of them I'm sure, not to mention she made my girlfriend believe that I couldn't be trusted and that I was still interested in her."

"Why did you kiss her at all?" it was the question that had been burning in her mind since she saw the pictures.

"At the party, I didn't know I was kissing her. I don't remember any of it. I've tried, and I don't know what happened, Bray and Fischer told me that I wasn't alone for more than 10 minutes at any one time, and that I wanted to play pool with them, and they have no idea where or when that picture was taken, but most likely when they were getting the cars figured out. In my front yard, I didn't kiss her. She brought back a bag of my stuff, some CD's, pictures a couple of shirts and told me she was going to leave us alone, then she leaned in to me and I thought she was going to kiss my cheek, we've known each other since the 3rd grade, so I leaned down and she turned her face and kissed my lips. I was so shocked that I just stood there, so it looks like 'we' were kissing, when in fact 'she' was kissing and I was trying to wrap my brain around what was happening." As he talked, she could feel his warm breath on her neck and the rumble of his voice in his chest vibrated up and down her spine. She leaned further back into him and snuggled down a little in the blanket. He was so warm, and it was getting late. She could feel herself getting drowsy, but they needed to finish this discussion.

"What about the church one? You had your arm around her."

"I told you I went to church to talk to her, when we were leaving she slipped on the pavement and I reached out to steady her, I held onto her until we got to the truck and then let go. Temperance, I'm telling you, I'm not at all interested in her anymore. Either you will believe me or you won't, but you can't keep holding onto it-that's not fair to me, I'm not lying."

She half turned to him and looked up, "I believe you Seeley, I should have all along, but it's hard, I was just given all these images of us and then I see you two together and then I can't talk to you so my mind runs wild and.."

He stopped her with a soft kiss. "I love you Temperance, I'll give you everything I have to make you love me back and I'm sorry."

She kissed him back softly and leaned into him, cuddled in his lap like a little child she said, "I love you too Seeley. Can I be your girlfriend again?"

He snorted and hugged her tight, "You never weren't my girlfriend Bone Lady." She smiled and turned almost all the way around in between his legs and pressed her lips to his. The kiss was soft, gentle and sweet at first. He moved his hands around to cup her butt and pulled her slightly closer. They both realized that she couldn't get any closer on her knees, so he brought his legs together and she sat facing him in his lap, her arms around his neck and their mouths entwined. The kiss deepened as their tongues danced, teased and tasted each other. He had one hand cupping her butt and the other on her back, stroking slightly he realized that she wasn't wearing anything under the light cotton pajama top. He moved both hands to the hem of her shirt and rested them half under the top and half out. Still kissing him, she reached down with one hand and grasped his hand softly, encouraging him to explore under her shirt. As his large hand rasped up her rib cage, she gasped and pulled back slightly. He paused, to let her get used to his hand there and she leaned back into him and licked his bottom lip, before she pulled away from his mouth all together and reaching down she pulled the shirt over her head and looked him straight in the eye.

At first, he was captivated by her eyes, and then his natural maleness took over and he looked at her bared breasts and exhaled slowly. Temperance was perfect he thought to himself, her shirts had been hiding so much more than he thought, she had tiny light pink nipples which when he breathed on them slightly puckered into tight little buds. He reached out to cup her breasts which completely filled his hands. He looked up into her face and her eyes were closed, her mouth slightly parted in a silent moan. He rasped his thumbs over her tight nipples and she moaned again, slightly swaying in his lap and leaning back. He reached out to hold her steady and sucked her nipples into his mouth one after the other. He felt her whole body clench and felt her press down with her hips at the same time. That made him tense. He was as hard as granite. She opened her eyes and looked at him, seeing that his eyes had turned to liquid chocolate, she pressed herself against his hard cock again and watched his eyes darken even more. Seeley grabbed her around the top of her perfectly tight ass and pulled her even closer as he once again dipped his head to taste her breasts. First one then the other, the sight of his pink tongue teasing her breast engaged her, especially as his chocolate eyes met hers while he circled her nipple and flicked at it.

"I'll stop" he rasped brokenly to her.

She responded by threading her hands through his hair and pulling his head closer to hers where she kissed him deeply and then breathlessly said, "I'll tell you when to stop."

Encouraged, he stroked her breast, still holding her steady with one hand, while he gently nuzzled her neck, soft; butterfly kisses interrupted with a nip against her porcelain skin, Tempe's mind was spinning. She didn't want him to ever stop. She sat back on her heels slightly, still riding his lap and attempted to push his jacket off. He gently disentangled himself from her and pulled it off, and then his shirt. She'd seen him partially shirtless before, but still caught her breath. She leaned in and gently licked his collar bone, his hands resting on her hips. He groaned softly at the whisper soft touch, and she grew bolder. Lengthening her tongue strokes, she traced a path to his pecs, and looking up at him with a question in her eyes, he nodded slightly and she flicked her tongue over his own hard nipples. He leaned his head back against the top of the bed and bit back a moan. Payton had never done that and he found himself in sensory overload. Deciding that he must have liked that, Temperance did it again, before he wrapped her tight into his arms and pulled her close. Her breasts pressed against his chest were an entirely new sensation for her and she pulled him closer to relish the feel of his hot, flushed skin against hers.

She said in a throaty whisper, "There's something I want to do, if it's okay?" Thinking that she could do whatever she wanted to him at this point, he said teasingly, "that depends on what it is?"

Suddenly emboldened by the rush of power she had over him, she breathed, "I think you'll like it Seeley," she leaned in to kiss him again and he relinquished the last bit of self restraint he had. "You'll have to be very quiet though, can you do that?" she said her voice low and heavy with the promise of good things to come.

"I'll try, but Tempe, you don't have to do any of this, it's not why I came over." He wanted her so badly, but not if she thought she had to. "I know Seeley, now, stop talking and sit on the edge of the bed." Her voice was authorative, but still slightly hesitant. "Okay" he said, hesitant himself.

Propping himself up on the edge of the bed, she moved between his legs, still on her knees and looking him in the eye, she started to unbuckle his belt. As soon as her fingers moved to the belt buckle, he put his hand over hers and said again, "You don't have to do anything."

She pushed his hand away and he leaned back on both of his hands and sent silent moans to the ceiling. She wasn't sure exactly what she was doing, but if he was feeling anything like she was, then he wanted this just as badly as she did. The buckle on his belt came free easily, she unsnapped the button on his jeans and he tensed, she saw his muscles flex. She was enjoying this; pulling the zipper down with excruciating slowness she watched his face the entire time. His eyes were closed, his mouth alternately closed and then slightly open as he exhaled heavily. Once the zipper of his jeans was down all the way, she leaned in and exhaled slowly on the bulge in his boxers. She felt and heard his muffled curse as his hands gripped her comforter, the veins in his arms standing out from the force that he was exerting holding onto the fabric. Deciding it was now or never, she leaned in and released him from the cotton boxer shorts. The tip of his cock glistened slightly, and he was throbbing with need.

"Seeley" she said softly. He opened his eyes and looked down at her, kneeling between his legs, her breasts full and heavy, against his inner thighs, her eyes darker than he had ever seen them, "look at me." She told him and he never took his eyes from hers. She flicked her tongue over his head and when he shuddered in response, she did it again, still looking him in the eye. She found the taste of him to be slightly sweet, swirling her tongue around his head, she licked down his shaft until she reached the barrier of the boxer shorts. Seeley's breath was coming in heaving gasps as he struggled to hold on to a little of his sanity. Temperance reached her small warm hand around him and began to stroke lightly, still teasing the slit at the top with her tongue.

"Oh god Tempe, oh my god" he quietly moaned as she took more and more of him into her mouth, she was so careful not to hurt him that it was the sweetest kind of torture for him. She lightly grazed her teeth against his hard hot flesh and he lifted his hips slightly to meet her mouth.

Suddenly, his hands were on his shoulder and he was pressing her back slightly. "Okay Temperance, you have to stop, you have to stop now." He told her, trying to force himself back into his pants. Next to impossible as he could cut glass with it right now. She didn't understand, "Did I do something wrong?" she asked, somewhat ashamed of her attempt.

"No, you did everything right, but if you don't stop, I'm going to come and I don't want to have to do that in your room, with your foster parents at the end of the hall. The first time I come with you, I don't want to hold anything back." He told her, pulling his shirt on and handing hers to her. She stood up and put hers on, and he bit back a groan watching her breasts rise with her arms above her head. As soon as her shirt was back on, he pulled her tight against him and kissed her deeply. Pulling away, he put her hand on his fly and said, "you did this to me, you did it Temperance, remember that" before he moved her hand, she gave him the barest squeeze causing him to gasp again and said, "if you hadn't of stopped I would of done much more."

He picked her up and sat her on the bed, where she immediately got to her knees so she'd be close to the same height. He put his hands on the strip of flesh where her shirt and pajama pants met and said, "We'll finish this someday, but not tonight"

"I'm going to go, if I can get out of here without taking down the house." He told her, moving towards the window. She helped him open it and then when he was outside looking in, he leaned in and kissed her again, "I'm glad I came over tonight, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Definitely Big Man, you'll see me tomorrow" she leaned out and kissed him again before watching him duck walk to the tree and go back down the branch to the end where he let himself dangle before he let go and fell softly to the ground. Once he was over the fence, she closed the window and pushed the mattress back onto the bed, unlocked her door and crawled back under the comforter. Although she was still very much aroused and curious about how much further she would have gone, sleep was quick and this time, she slept soundly until the alarm went off. Her mind free from the worry and stress that had plagued her for the past 3 nights, and her body tingling with its new found pleasure.

CHAPTER 67

Tuesday morning was cloudy and raining, there was a chance of an early snow and the city was gearing up for a long, cold winter when Lance took Temperance to school. "Make sure you call your Mother when you know what time you will be getting out of class, and we'll need a copy of your schedule as well" he reminded her. "One of us will pick you up from the museum also."

"You don't have to do that, I can ride the bus" she told him, thinking that would give her more time with her friends, "I don't mind, and I still have my pass."

"We'd prefer to pick you up, it would be better for everyone all the way around, it removes temptation." She got out of the car in front of the school, opening her umbrella as she stepped out of the car and told him she'd call. She ran to the front doors of the school, grateful that she had decided to get pants, those short skirts would not be fun on a day like today. Kersten was on her way to get Sammy and Alana, so the two of them walked to her locker. "Lunch today?" she asked. "Well, I…um, well, Seeley and I…"

"Say no more, you guys talked huh?" Kersten smiled at her.

"Yeah, you could say that, we need to talk more, but I think we'll be okay" Temperance hoped so anyway. The two of them came around the corner and both of them gasped a little at the sight of Seeley leaning against Temperance's locker. "You are so lucky." Kersten told her, seeing Sammy and Alana towards the end of the hallway.

"Thanks Kersten!" Temperance told her, her eyes on Seeley's still form. "See you later." She told her. Walking up to him, she put her arms around his waist and looked up at him, "Good morning Seeley."

He leaned down and kissed her lips and said, "Good morning Tempe, how'd you sleep?" he raised an eyebrow and she giggled, "Probably better than you."

"Not as bad as I thought to be honest, a little uncomfortable, but that was due to the tree climbing I think, haven't done that since I was a kid."

Raising her own eyebrow, she simply said, "I bet." The two of them started to walk towards the hallway where they would split to go to their separate classes and she told him she had a surprise for him at lunch, "What is it Bone Lady?"

"If I tell you, it won't be a surprise. Bye Seeley!" she waved and caught up with Kersten on her way to class. He watched her walk away and started talking animatedly with her friend and was overwhelmed with a sense of pride that she was coming out of her shell. He turned to walk the opposite way and Caroline and Daisy were standing by a bank of lockers watching him approach. He knew if those two were around then Payton wouldn't be far behind, and he really did not want to deal with her. "Booth, hey Seeley, can we talk to you?" Caroline called to him as he walked by. He turned around and kept walking backwards, "Sorry, no can do Caroline, if you want to talk to me, I suggest you call my attorney." He spun around and continued on to class but not before he saw how pale her face was.

Fischer and Wendell had been having a great morning, they got to school a lot earlier than they normally did and set up camp outside their locker. Before the first bell for class they were approached by members of the senior class and were gladly accepting what they were being passed. "I think this is going to be one hell of a fun time, Bray old buddy." Fischer said, fist bumping Wendell as they took a look at what one of the cheerleaders had passed over, "Some of this stuff is priceless!"

Shaking his head at Fischer, Wendell said, "I just hope we'll be able to get it all done in time, it's going to be close."

"Speaking of which, did you ask Angela yet?" He asked Wendell, putting the last of their trinkets into the locker and shutting it.

"No, and I don't think I will, it's just a dumb dance." He said morosely, wishing he had the sack to ask her out at all. "Yeah, a dumb dance, why don't you ask her out for something else then?"

"If you want her to go out so bad, you ask her" he told Fischer.

"No thanks man, that's a lot of drama, I'm too lazy for all that work! You though, you like high maintenance, I think I may see if Tempe knows someone that would like to take a ride on the Fischer train."

"Let me know how that works out for you." Wendell laughed as they both went to class themselves.

Fischer got to class with about a minute to spare. He sauntered in and winked at the first girl he saw, smiled at a couple of others and took his seat. He was always willing to stir the pot a little bit, and now he had the perfect opportunity. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and quickly and quietly he sent a text to Angela. "Hey vision of loveliness..what are you doing tonight?-Phish."

He expected her to text right back, but had forgotten that Angela was on a whole different schedule than the school set, so mildly disappointed he put his phone back in his pocket and concentrated on the chemistry lecture. He was sitting slack jawed and barely awake right before the end of class when his phone vibrated and scared him out of his day dream. "Aaah!" he jumped slightly and the whole class looked at him, "Is there something you want to share Mr. Fischer?" the instructor asked.

"Oh, no Sir, um just a…spider…on my desk-nothing to see here, move along" he said waving his arms at the rest of the class and trying to recover. There were some giggles and snorts, but everyone settled back down and he was able to pull the phone out of his pocket quietly and read the text.

"Working until 6-why?~Angel~"

"Want to go on date with Wendell?"

"Tonight?"

"Yeeessss"

"Okay-tell him to call me, gotta go~Angel~"

Fischer smiled as he texted that he would. He was putting fires out all over the place it seemed. The bell rang and he grabbed his things and headed out to exchange books for his next class. He and Wendell shared a locker because he had lost his combination the first day of school and had never bothered to get it again, so it was easy for him to leave him a note. "BRAY MAN-call Angel." He drew a heart around the message and stuck it on top of the pile of books in the bottom. Hopefully he'd get it by lunch, he thought.

Wendell showed up just after Fischer left and grabbed his stuff, seeing the note he shook his head. Fischer latched onto things and never gave up. He grabbed the note and stuck it to the inside of his locker just as Caroline came up behind him. Her eyes were dark and her makeup wasn't doing much to hide the sleepless nights that she was experiencing. "Wendell, can we talk?" she asked him softly.

"What about Caroline? I have to go to class." It hurt him to be so abrupt, she was his first girlfriend, his first love, his first everything. "Can you skip?" she wondered, "I really need to talk to you"

"Neither one of us can afford to skip, maybe some other time" He had gotten his books and was shutting the door when she saw the note. "Never mind" she told him, her bottom lip quavering, she turned and ran off. Wondering about girls, he caught the note in the corner of his eye and sighed, "CAROLINE! Caroline wait!" he shouted at her. Angrily slamming the door Wendell tucked his books under his arm and went to class. He had some serious thinking to do. On one hand what she had helped Payton do was unforgiveable, but maybe she had realized that too late? Maybe he should give her a chance?

Caroline went to the back of class and sat down next to Daisy; she put her head down on her books and quietly tried to stop the tears from streaming down her face. Daisy leaned over and whispered, "Did you talk to him?"

"I asked him too, and he said he couldn't maybe at lunch, and then I saw a note for him to call that Angela girl, so I left." She was sniffling as she told Daisy what had happened. "Well, that could have been an old note; it didn't have to be anything recent, why don't you try again at lunch. If you miss him this much, it doesn't make sense to just ignore him." Daisy said quietly back. She knew that she wasn't going the best person to be giving advice; she and Fischer were on the outs too. It was all Payton's fault she thought bitterly. Everything was going fine until they all started listening to her. Speaking of which, Payton had just walked in and was making her way back to where they were sitting.

"Caroline what's wrong?" She asked her voice low. She also had dark circles under her eyes, detention yesterday was the worst and she still hadn't quite figured out how to tell the two of them about her talk with Seeley. "She tried to talk to Wendell and he blew her off sort of" Daisy said which made Caroline tear up all over again. "I'm sorry Caroline" Payton told her oldest friend, reaching over to put her hand on her arm.

"This is all your fault Payton" she spat back at her, turning her head to face the other way and shaking off her hand. Looking sadly at Daisy Payton said, "Are you and Fischer okay?"

"No actually, he broke up with me even after I told him everything, and you know what Payton?" She said in a shaky, angry whisper, "That's all your fault too, and I don't even care that I ratted you out." She turned to face forward and ignored the hurt look on Payton's face. "I'm sorry you guys, I didn't know that it would all turn out this way" she said quietly hoping they would give her another chance.

"It's a little late to be sorry Payton, but for what's its worth, we all knew what we were doing, so as much as I think it is your fault, I have to take some blame too. But only for what happened, not for breaking everyone up. That's all on you." Caroline turned back to face the other two and the three of them sat through class, together in their blame but alone in their sorrow.

Finally making it through the morning, Tempe hurried to her locker to get her lunch. She was hoping that Seeley would be there, but the only person she saw was Fischer, he was sitting down on the ground, his legs crossed in a praying position, fingers tented and arms outstretched with his eyes closed.

"Praying for something special Colin?" She teased as she walked up. He cracked one eye and said, "Yes, I'm praying that I'll be able to stand and walk after I get out of this position, think you can give a brother a hand up?" Temperance laughed at him and setting her books down stood in front of him and grabbed his hands. Stepping back and pulling, she attempted to pull him up, although he was just too heavy, overbalanced she started to fall backwards when she was caught by strong arms. A warm voice in her ear said, "hold on kid, I gotcha." Turning to look, she saw it was Wendell and they both almost fell when they heard another voice from down the hall, "Bray get your hands off my girlfriend!" Seeley only saw the end of the tug of war, not the beginning.

"Hold on Seels" Fischer said, "She was trying to help me out of my Buddha position and overbalance, Wen just kept her from falling on her butt, put the sword down and slowly back away." He had jumped dramatically in front of Seeley and holding one hand towards Wendell and one towards Booth he continued, "Can't we all just get along?"

Seeley smiled ruefully and said, "Sorry Bray-Temp"

"No worries" she told him, "I think I could take you" she winked and picked up her books and started to put them in her locker. "Think so?" he growled as he picked her up over his shoulder and trapped her arms. "Put me down!" she was laughing and so were Wendell and Fischer, the four of them stopped laughing when he put her back down and she put her books away. "What are we doing for lunch?" she asked, still slightly out of breath.

"Let's go to the diner" Wendell said, he was half hoping that Caroline would have wanted to try and talk at lunch, but on the other hand, he wanted to call Angela too. "Yeah, that works" Fischer said, "I'm in the mood for some grease with a side of grease" he winked at Temperance and linked arms with her and Wendell. She linked her other arm with Seeley and with great reluctance on the faces of Seeley and Wendell, the two of them led them down the halls, singing that they were off to see the wizard.


	4. Chapter 68 thru 73C

CHAPTER 68

When they got to the diner the 4 of them sat and ordered talked about general stuff until their food arrived and then Temperance said, "I have an announcement to make!"

"What's up little one?" Seeley said around a mouthful of fries.

"I got my job back at the museum, except this time I'm in the student intern program!" her eyes were lit with excitement as they all hi fived her and told her congratulations. She out lined what she knew about it and told them about Max coming to her house yesterday and the conversation that the Sweets had with him. "Isn't that the program that Zack is in on?" Seeley asked her when she was done.

"Yes, I'll be working with Max directly and Zack and some other older students from other schools. It's really quite amazing that I got in at all. I didn't even apply for it or anything." She went back to her salad and Seeley thought to himself that she probably didn't know all the strings Max had pulled to get her into it.

"What time do you start?" Seeley asked her.

"I have to be there at 3:30, but I don't know what time I'll get done, I guess I'll get the schedule this evening." She told him. "I also have some other news to pass along."

"Are you going to be able to go to the dance?" Wendell asked, still trying to think of a way to get Angela there if she turned him down. Maybe she would come with Temperance and Seeley.

"Um no, unfortunately, this isn't good news, the Sweets are going to petition to adopt me, which means that I may only get to go to this program for a little while. Lance is supposed to find out today what the deadline is for filing and all that stuff. They've been my foster parents for over a year, so they're pretty confident that it will go through. Which means that I won't be allowed to do anything until I'm 18, but at least I'll still be able to see Alana, Kersten, and Sammy at school, but I won't be able to see you guys, unless you come over from college, and why would you do that?" Although she was still upbeat, they could tell she wasn't really happy at all about the possible turn of events.

"Well that just sucks." Fischer said, "I'll come see you, I'm sure getting out of college won't be that big of a deal for a soon to be college standout student athlete such as myself! I also have some news, drum roll please…I've been accepted to the U on a partial football scholarship and I made 2nd team All State" he stood and bowed to the other three as they all clapped. "I'm pretty stoked, got my letter yesterday."

"Dude-that's cool. I'm sure they won't know what hit them when the great Colin Fischer shows up to play left bench on defense!" Wendell teased him as he threw a fry.

Laughing, the four of the m got up to leave, Seeley was laughing along, but was struggling to accept the adoption news and wondering where that would leave him and Temperance. Forcing a smile, he led her to his truck as she was talking animatedly with Fischer about his college plans.

When they got back to the school Wendell and Fischer went back to their locker to see if they'd received any more items from the seniors they contacted and Seeley quietly walked Temperance back to her locker. "What's a matter big guy? You've been quiet all lunch." She looked up at him and smiled.

"I've just been thinking about your news. I'm excited about you getting the job back at the museum; I'm just really dreading the idea of you being adopted by the Sweets. I mean, in 7 months I'll be graduated, and you'll be trapped. I'll never get to see you. I want to take you on a date, a real date, like to the movies or something, or be able to call you whenever, or have you come over to my house for dinner. I want to spend real time with you before I leave. If you get adopted by the Sweets, that can't happen."

"Seeley, I want those things too, and more, maybe when I turn 17 I can get a little more freedom, I don't know, but right now, let's just worry about what is going on now, not later. Did you talk to Angela about her lawyers?" They drifted into talking about what Angela's lawyers said they could do about Payton and her little trick. Temperance just wanted to forget all of it, but Seeley wanted to pursue it. She was really looking forward to talking to Angela that evening and told him that she would see him later, not realizing that he didn't have football practice anymore, so she really wouldn't see him. They'd been so distracted by other events that she hadn't even asked him how the game went.

Temperance went to biology class and sat down next to Alana, she told her about getting the internship and how she wouldn't be going back to Home Ec. Alana was disappointed that they wouldn't have the other class together, but was excited that her friend would get to go back to the museum. Temperance was busy telling her about the night that Booth climbed into her bedroom window and how they seemed to be back on track when Payton and her friends slunk in just under the bell. Tempe froze and tried to avoid looking at them. For her part Payton ignored her altogether.

Alana and Temperance shared a glance and then class started. Today they were doing projects and the teacher was assigning partners. Feeling like her stomach was full of lead, Temperance prayed to every deity that may be listening that she wouldn't get Payton as a partner. As it turned out, that was the exact moment in time where she stopped believing in anything other than pure science, because as it turned out, Payton ended up being her lab partner and that's when the fun began.

CHAPTER 69

When the teacher announced the partners, there were groans across the entire classroom, when Payton and Temperance's pairing was announced, the entire room gasped as one. Payton's head came up sharply as she looked back to where Temperance sat an identical look of dread on her face. The teacher was still talking and explaining what all was going to happen with this assignment, so the students faced forward. She told them that they would be dissecting both pigs and sharks in the next two weeks, each one would be performed by the partners and they would then write a synopsis of the dissection, citing certain parts and reasons for their inspection. This was to be a third of their semester grade, so it was worth it for them to do a good job. The teacher announced they would be starting the next day with the basic beginning information for the sharks. "Well, even if you don't get to hurt Payton, at least you can work on one of her relatives!" Alana tried to coax a smile out of her friend at the end of class.

"I guess that's better than nothing, I just can't begin to imagine what kind of fresh hell I'll be in this week." Temperance retorted headed to the teachers desk, where not surprised she also found Payton.

"There is no way I can be her lab partner."Payton told the teacher emphatically, "there has to be someone else you can pair me with."

"I'm aware of your past differences Miss Perotta, and I think that the best way to resolve conflict is to work together towards a common goal, I'm sorry but you and Miss Brennan will be partners."

Temperance jumped in hoping to help, "Please Ma'am, we've resolved all of our differences, we're tight, Payton and I have no more issues, is there any way we can just be assigned to other partners? I mean, I'm just a sophomore, there is no reason why she should have to do her work with me, she's a senior, there has to be another senior she can partner with?" Temperance was shocked at the words flowing from her mouth, she was practically defending Payton, but she also realized that she would do anything to avoid the next two weeks with her.

"I'm sorry ladies, my decision is final, now hurry along or you will be late for your next class." The teacher stood and gathered her things, making her way out of the classroom.

Payton turned to Temperance and said, "I cannot believe this. This has got to be a sick joke."

"I'm not enjoying it any more than you are Payton, believe me I would rather fail the class than be your partner at any other time, but I need this credit and so do you, so let's just agree to not kill each other and do the work for the next two weeks, okay?" Temperance thought that was a reasonable request, they could resume open hostility afterwards, besides if Seeley followed through with the stalking charges it could only make life more interesting right? Sighing she nodded and agreed when Payton simply said, "Whatever."

They made their way to the exit and Temperance went to her locker, Payton went to hers, both of their minds swirling with what just happened. It was like handcuffing David and Goliath together and asking them to make world peace.

When she got to her locker Fischer was standing there again, this time on his hands, feet up against the top of the lockers, the people around her locker were trying to avoid the senior and yet were still compelled to stare. Fischer was a big guy, and his shirt around his neck only brought attention to his hard six pack, and the muscles in his arms were bulging trying to hold his body upright. His face was slightly red, so Tempe assumed he'd been there for a while. She smiled broadly at her friend and wondered what he was up to, always the comedian; he was making it a habit to keep her smiling. She walked over to him and turning her head upside down she looked at him and said, "What are you doing Fish?"

He started to bring his legs down when she put her arm across them and reached down to tickle his stomach. Trying to answer her, laugh and maintain his balance, he crashed into a tangled heap with the freshman next to her locker. Fischer jumped up first and reached a hand down to the smaller boy who looked as if he'd been introduced to a brick wall at mach one. "Sorry little man, you okay?" Fischer said, holding on to the locker with one hand to steady himself, and his other arm still on the kids shoulder to steady him.

"I think so-I'm still alive right?" he asked shakily.

"I think you'll make it Eli" Temperance said, "Fischer, please apologize for your assault on Eli" she turned to him, he was smoothing his unruly hair and trying to tuck his shirt back in.

"Sorry little man, peace be with you" he flashed the Vulcan hand signal and went back to his shirt. Temperance shook her head and said, "Why are you here? Every time I come to my locker lately I have a member of the brat pack here, what do I owe the honor?"

"It's like this little sister," he drawled in a heavily accented southern drawl, "I have nothing else to do and I like you, we all do, so I figured I'd keep watch on your angelic figure until prince charming swims up on his fiery steed, that way I'm useful, you're protected from e-VIL and we'll both live to fight the good fight." He'd emphasized the word evil and when he finished she crooked an eyebrow and said, "You've mixed up a lot of metaphors in that there speech big fella, but thanks for the bodyguard action. I think I'm going to be okay though, Payton is my lab partner for biology so she can't kill me for at least 2 weeks or we'll fail the class." She finished speaking and started to laugh at the dazed expression on his face. "You're what?" He asked.

"Yep, she and I are going to be the best of friends for the next two weeks, I can hardly wait." She sarcastically replied, "Do you know where Seeley is?"

Too stunned to reply right away, Fischer just stared at her, until she waved her hand in front of his face after closing her locker, "Fish? Earth to Fischer?!"

"Um yeah, he's in Dr. Saroyan's office going over some stuff, that's actually why I'm here, he asked me to tell you and make sure you got on the bus to the museum before I left for the day." He couldn't get what she had said out of his mind, "Lab partners huh? Maybe I should take advanced Biology again, this could be fun." He smiled down at her offering his arm.

"I'm sure I'll have the time of my life." She told him accepting his arm as the two of them headed to the bus stop. Now that she was on her way, Temperance was very nervous, what if she wasn't as smart as the other kids? She was joining the internship in the middle, what if she was totally lost? Even Max wouldn't let her stay if she couldn't keep up.

"Okay kid, here you go, do you have your milk money? Play nice with the other kids and have fun, call Fischer Daddy if you need to okay?" Fischer told her in a mock playful parenting tone as he was pretending to smooth her tie and wipe invisible lint off of her jacket. He even reached down to make sure her skirt was straight when she grabbed his arm and said, "I'll never call you Daddy, but thank you for the escort you weirdo. Now, stop playing with my butt before I tell my boyfriend on you." She was smiling at him and knew he was just trying to make her relax.

"Ahh…that big monkey, I could take him." He told her puffing out his chest. Straightening his own tie he winked down, offered his fist for her to bump and told her he'd see her later. Temperance waved good bye and got on the city bus. Anxious to see Angela, Max and Zack, plus so happy to be going home; home to the one place she truly felt comfortable.

When the bus let her off, Temperance headed inside the rain had long since turned to snow and it was really starting to stick. She shook her head and stomped her feet inside the inner doors and regretted instantly wearing the uniform skirt. Her legs not only had a bluish cast, but she was freezing. Realizing there was nothing she could do about it now, she went to the break room where she was hoping to see Max or Angela.

Zack was the first face she saw and when his eyes met hers, he smiled a heart melting smile and said, "Hey Tempe! You're back!" he walked over to her and picked her up in a bone crushing hug. Hugging him back, she laughed and said, "Hi Zack! I missed you; I'm a student intern now! I'm in your class, cool huh?"

Stepping away from each other he smiled down and said, "That is awesome news! Now we have an even number of students in the class so maybe we can be partners? I'll have to ask Max!" She didn't know what to say and just nodded happily, "is Angela here?" she was looking at the schedule and didn't see her name.

"Yes, she said she was working until 6 tonight, I think she is giving a lecture upstairs, she's not on the tour roster." He told her as she put her things in her old locker. Her name was written on a piece of tape with a small drawing of a dragon on it, so she knew that Angela had known she was coming back. There was also a half folded sheet of paper that said, "Welcome back Sweetie, Max told me all about it, I'll come see you at the end of class" ~ANGEL~

After walking out on the museum the day after the picture incident, she wasn't sure if she would be coming back, however she showed up for her next shift and nothing was said about it. Angela hated to play to the celebrity card unless she absolutely had to. She really tried to do everything she could to make people see that she was her own person and had her own talents, desires and abilities. She wasn't even going to use it when she showed up and it turns out she didn't have to, no one had said anything, the manager on duty had just done the tours himself and they left it at that. Angela did apologize and he told her not to worry about it, so they all seemed to be back on track as far as employees went.

Zack and Temperance walked to Max's basement classroom talking animatedly about the class, his school and just generally catching up from the past few days. She told him a little bit about why she'd been MIA and he used what he knew from Angela and Max to fill in the blanks.

"Okay Class! Before we start, first off, for those of you who don't know, this bright new student is Miss Temperance Brennan, she is a sophomore at St. Agnes HS and although she is joining us a little later than would normally be acceptable, please do not keep her out of the rotation of things. She's as smart as a whip." Max started out fondly and then said in an exaggerated stage whisper, "Also, for those of you thinking she may be fun to 'get to know', maybe ask out for a soda or a picture show, she's taken, he's a big big football player with two equally large friends who watch her like their little sister, sorry gentlemen" he finished, Temperance blushed and the class laughed good naturedly.

"Now let's get started!" Max launched into what they would be doing this week, they would be examining some relics from the Bronze age and attempting to match not only what they were used for, but by whom and why they were discovered where they were. He normally took the kids on a real dig in the summer, but the rest of the time, they did mock digs and identifications from pictures, soil samples, etc that had already been done by actual anthropologists and archeologists. The kids split up into their normal partners and Max came over to Temperance and said, "Now that you're here kid, let's have you and Zack be partners, that way I can observe and he doesn't get all the answers!" he winked and led her to Zack and the two of them began to work.

After about an hour or so Max asked her to join him while Zack was looking at some pictures, "Temperance, here is the schedule," he handed her a sheet of paper, "We normally meet 4 days a week, from 3:30 to 7:00 PM and then on Saturday from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM. Now, you'll see that your schedule is slightly different, you're here an extra 45 minutes each day, I thought you would like some time with your friends, and this way the Sweets can't say anything." He finished and smiled at her, his eyes kind with understanding for the young girl.

Looking up at him with a smile of her own and slightly watery eyes Temperance said, "Thank you Max, thank you for everything, I mean it, thank you so much!" she leaned in and gave him a big hug, he soothed her and stroked her back and told her, "Anytime honey, anytime, now, let's get back to work before everyone knows you're my favorite." He told her winking again. "Do you think that they think that already?" she was suddenly a little nervous of the rest of the students, she didn't want them to think she was getting special attention.

"Oh, I'm sure they think it, but let's not let them know it!" he chuckled and she tucked the paper back into her pocket and went over to her station where Zack was writing down what he saw on their set of pictures. At 6:15 Angela came busting into class and gathered Temperance up into a huge hug, "Sweetie! I'm so happy you're home! I missed you, welcome back; I can't believe you're really here!"

"Angela, put me down!" Temperance laughed at her exuberant friend. "I'm glad to be back too!"

The boys in the class were all looking at Angela with pure lust and the girls with pure jealousy; they all wished that they were Temperance during that hug. Today, she was wearing purple skinny jeans, a sweatshirt with the collar ripped off and it was tilted sexily over one shoulder, green sneakers and she had a side pony tail. Angela and Temperance were talking quietly, catching up and including Zack when Angela's phone began to ring, she showed the screen to Temperance and it said, incoming call from Wendell. Answering it Angela lowered her voice and walked away from the two of them.

"So, she and Bray huh?" Zack said nodding at her back, "that's an interesting matchup."

"Why?" Temperance asked, she was happy for both of her friends, "He's barely a year younger than her, he's cute and she likes him, I think its fine."

"Oh, I'm sure they'll have a lot of fun, I just always pictured her with a tortured artist, an older man, someone who drinks small cups of coffee and wears all black and well, you know someone artsy." He trailed off at the expression on Tempe's face. "Well, I don't think beatniks are really her style, she's pretty out there, and a football player in tight pants is actually right up her alley!"

Angela finished her conversation and said, "Wendell is on his way over, we're going out tonight so I'm going to go freshen up, I'm glad you got to see me Zacky and Tempe, I'm glad you're home Sweetie, I'll see you tomorrow!" she hugged her and kissed her cheek and then headed out of Max's classroom with a wave and a blown kiss to him as well.

Zack said wryly, "Well, at least she didn't insult me today, we must be getting closer." The two of them laughed and began cleaning up their station as class was over. There were bins above the shelving units where their items were to be stored. Each of them were particular to a certain station so there would be no cross contamination. Max let them write their names on stickers and place them on the bins to also help alleviate confusion. Up until now Zack's was blank as he didn't have a partner, so the Temperance took out some sharpie markers and began to write their names on a sticker to put on the bin while Zack put things away. He stood on a ladder and put the bin up and then passed the ladder down the line to the next set of partners. When she was done, she started to pull out a chair to stand on to put the sticker on the bin and Zack said, "Here I'll do it." he was much taller and would just be able to reach the bottom of it, but Temperance was stubborn.

"Give me a boost" she told him instead and he squatted down, she climbed onto his shoulders and using the shelves as a balancer he stood up and she was able to put the sticker right in the middle of the bin. Neither one of them gave any thought to how it must look, her sitting on his shoulders, short skirt pulled up, his hands on her thighs, Zack registered slightly just how close he was to her with her warm inner thighs on either side of his head, her panties pressed up against the back of his neck. The rest of the interns had cleared out of the room and Max was in his office getting his things together when they both heard a voice behind them. Thinking to himself how stupid this was and trying to will his cock to not stiffen at the accidental contact, surprised, Zack jumped slightly and turned towards the voice which overbalanced Temperance, who reached down blindly to his head to try and steady herself.

"What the fuck are you doing Addy?" Seeley's voice was gruff and raw with anger. Seeing her start to tip off, he rushed forward to grab her just as Zack tried to keep her from falling and tightened his grip on her legs. Catching her mid fall Seeley kept her from hitting the ground as he crashed into a set of desks himself. Zack fell to the side and knocked over a desk himself.

"Whoah! Settle down in here!" Max came running in and shouting to the two boys who were both picking themselves up. "What happened?"

Temperance said, "I was putting our names on the bin and instead of using a ladder, I was on Zack's shoulders and Booth came in and scared us and he started to fall and then Booth caught me as I fell and they knocked over a couple of desks." She looked up sheepishly and self consciously rubbed the hand print on her leg. She hadn't looked at them yet, but Seeley did, he saw the red welts outlining a hand showing up vividly on her inner thigh. He also picked up on her calling him Booth.

"Well, let's just get this out in the open since we're all here," Max said sternly, "I'm not going to let there be any horse play in here, nor am I going to deal with any crap from either of you. Zack you are here to learn, as are you Temperance, nothing else, Seeley, I fudged her schedule so she could see you, but I can just as easily change it back. So everyone, grow up, shake hands and knock this off." Zack had been righting the desks as he spoke and said, "I'm cool with that, she's my friend and my lab partner, nothing more." His look challenged Booth to disagree. "Fine." Seeley said, reaching to shake the hand that Zack had put out between them. Temperance gathered up her things and wincing at the soreness in her legs headed to the break room with Seeley.

He was silent as they walked to the back stairway; she wanted to spend a couple of minutes alone with him before going to see if the Sweets were outside. She'd called them on her break and told them she got done at 7:30. "Geez Seeley, why are you so mad? I wasn't doing anything." She didn't understand how one minute they could be laughing and joking and the next she was defending something, or he was defending something. This whole thing was pretty tricky she thought. It should have been obvious she was just getting a lift up.

"Why am I mad?" he asked incredulously, "um, because you are wearing a short skirt which when you sat on his shoulders made it even shorter and some other guys hand prints are on your legs. Your crotch was pressed up against his neck Tempe, one turn of his head to the right or left and he's closer to you than I've ever been. That's why I'm mad Temperance, not to mention, apparently whenever you get caught in a compromising position I'm 'Booth' and not Seeley." He stopped and sat down at the top of the stairwell and put his hands between his knees.

Temperance looked down and saw the faint bruises on her inner thighs starting to appear from Zack's hands where he'd increased his grip to make sure she didn't fall. She didn't realize that she'd called him Booth again, it was really just a slip of the tongue, and she wasn't trying to imply anything by it. "Seeley, I'm not going to do this with you every single time you see me and Zack together. He is my FRIEND. He is also as of today my lab partner in this program. We are going to be close, we are going to touch, we are going to laugh and talk together. I'm not fucking him _Booth_, and I'm sorry if you think I should be fucking you. I thought we were past that. Do you want me to get on your shoulders so you'll be close enough to me? Is that what being close it to you?" She was livid, "I didn't realize I called you Booth, I'm sorry about that. Zack didn't try to hurt me; he was trying to make sure I didn't fall. It was my fault I was up there, he offered to put the sticker on the bin, and I wanted to do it. I didn't even think about the skirt or how high it rides up or anything else, I don't even think of those things most of the time, I just do what needs done. You're the one that worries about stupid shit like that. I'm telling you right now, I'm not going to explain this to you anymore. We are already on shaky ground; let's just not make it worse okay?" She started to sit down next to him and said, "I'm Payton's lab partner in biology too, you don't seem that upset about that."

Quietly Seeley said, "At least I know you won't kiss her or something to try to get back at me for what I did, where with Zack…" he stopped speaking when Temperance stood up and stared at him with a shocked expression.

"You asshole. I would never, never do that to you Seeley. I've already forgiven you and I trust you. Apparently, you don't trust me. I'm new to this whole thing, but I'm not stupid Seeley and I won't let you or anyone else implies that I'm a fucking tramp, that's already happened too much lately and this is the last time." Her voice never broke and her back was straight as she marched past him to the door that led to the main level. She'd never said those words out loud and it only proved to emphasize to him, how mad she was.

"Temperance, I'm sorry, I was wrong, please wait" he told her realizing what an idiot he was.

"No, Seeley _Booth_" she emphasized his last name, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I thought you and I could actually make this work. I'm not a two bit whore like your last girlfriend, this is what I am, and she waved her hands down in front of her body, "just this, a naïve sophomore that thought she could handle it in the real world, well guess what you just proved I can't and I'm done trying. Good bye Seeley." She turned and walked to the break room, put away her apron and grabbed her school bag, before heading straight to the Sweets car and going home.

This time on the way home, she didn't feel scared or lost, she felt tired. Just tired, it wasn't supposed to be this hard if it was really supposed to be. Even she knew that, and she wasn't going to keep justifying her friendships to him. That's all Zack was, he was her friend. Nothing more, nothing less. She didn't care when Angela and Seeley talked without her, she trusted him and her. He just didn't trust her, and she wasn't going to keep begging for that trust. She had enough on her plate without dealing with a jealous boyfriend. She silently stared ahead, trying to get her mind off the expression in his eyes when she'd called herself a tramp. Shaking her head, she turned to look at the fat sparkling flakes of snow falling, covering up everything in a fluffy white blanket; she wished it was just that easy in the real world.

CHAPTER 70

Seeley left the museum and headed straight home, as he was walking into the kitchen, his phone rang, Fischer said, "Hey, Cordie and Michelle want to go to open skate tonight, wanna go?"

"Yeah, you want me to pick you up or meet there?" he asked as Jared and Howard came into the kitchen. "Can you come get us? My ride is low on petrol" Fischer told him.

"Sure, let me grab my bag, meet you in 15" and he hung up. Seeley went to the garage and grabbed his hockey bag and Jared said, "We want to go to Zams too."

Sighing, Seeley said, "Get in the truck." He went upstairs and told Pops he was taking the boys to Zams and then they left to go get Fischer, his sister and her friend. Fischer rode shotgun and the two girls and boys huddled silently in the back seat. Cordie's friend Michelle was the girl that Jared liked so the atmosphere in the backseat was charged.

Arriving at Zams the younger kids went into the free skate rink and Seeley and Fischer headed to the practice rink. This time of year it was usually empty on school nights, and tonight was no exception. The guys started off slowly circling the rink and then began skating faster and faster until they were carving the corners of the rink and were literal blurs on the ice. Warmed up they grabbed their sticks and were playing a little one on one. Fischer had been keeping a running conversation with infrequent non committal grunts from Booth throughout the warm up, until he blocked a shot. Picking up the puck he said, "Dude, what's up?"

"Tempe and I had a fight" he said, his mind still trying to process what was going on between them. He skated over to the bench where his bag was to grab a drink.

"About what this time, you just got back together!" Colin asked, aimlessly moving the puck from side to side in front of his skates.

"She was sitting on Zack Addy's shoulders at the museum, putting a sticker or something on a box above her head." He told him, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Oh MY God-your girlfriend was sitting on someone's shoulders? Oh the HORROR" Fischer said dramatically.

"It wasn't like that man, she had her uniform on and the skirt is really short and he had his hand on her legs-she accused me of not trusting her and yelled at me when I got mad at her for being there with him."

"Was she there _with_ him, or just with him? I'd be mad and yell at you too if you didn't trust me" Fischer said taking a lazy shot at the goal.

"I trust her." Seeley said, surprised at his friend.

Laughing out loud Fischer said, "No you don't. It's obvious to a blind man or a brother in law-you can't stand the thought of her talking to anyone else. You freaked on Wendell the other day for catching her when she fell, and let's face it that's bound to happen, she's not the most graceful of people. You act like anytime she says or does anything that doesn't directly involve you it's her way of moving away from you. Dude-I'm not a psychologist or anything, but even I can see that."

Seeley didn't like where this was going. He trusted her. Didn't he?

Fischer wasn't done, "Dude, Seels, what do you see when you look at Tempe?" he skated over to where Booth was leaning against the boards.

"What do you mean? I see Tempe. What do you see?" he thought Fischer was taking his psych classes a little too seriously.

"I'll tell you what I don't see-I don't see a selfish, conniving cheerleader out to get any and every guy she can under her boyfriends nose." He told him.

"Neither do I" Seeley replied.

"Really? Are you sure? What do you have to compare to? Tempe isn't Payton-have you ever looked at her? I mean really looked at her. When you are around she always knows exactly where you are in the room and self consciously turns in your direction, her eyes light up when you enter the room. She doesn't know _how_ to cheat on you man. She has no frame of reference Seeley, she has nothing to compare to, but she won't cheat. To her that's just as bad as leaving. You can see it if you bothered to look" Fischer was getting wound up, he'd wanted to call Seeley on his behavior for a couple of weeks now. They'd all seen how possessive he'd become and it wasn't fair to either of them. "You kissed Payton twice since you started dating, the how and the why don't matter" he said as Seeley started to explain what happened, "the bottom line is you did, she saw it and yet she is still willing to trust you. I think it's the least you can do to trust her too." He skated around in a circle and then stopped and said, "Have you asked her about Zack?"

"YES" Seeley ground out.

"And? What did she say?"

"That they are friends and nothing more."

"What about Addy, did you talk to him?"

"YES"

"AND?"

"He said friends but if I screwed up then he wasn't going to stay that way." Seeley said recalling the parking lot conversation.

"Which is exactly what I would have said"

"WHAT?" Seeley raised his head and looked at Fischer.

"Yep, I would have told you the same thing-because she's not the kind of girl that you walk away from. You see Seeley, I'm a studier of women; I watch them, observe their language, their habitats. I read their magazines, I go to a woman's hair salon for my coiffure, hell I even watch the Lifetime channel, all so that I can understand them, their mannerisms, how they think, everything; and that girl-when she says, 'friends' she means just that. She'd no more go after Zack than she would me or Wendell, so I trust her man and if Zack says he's there as a friend until you screw up. Then I would stop screwing up. She's not Payton, speaking of which, did she tell you that she and Payton are lab partners in Biology?"

"Yeah, she mentioned it…"

"What did you say?"

"I made a smart comment about how at least she wouldn't kiss Payton to get back at me" he said quietly. He couldn't believe he had to have all of this explained to him by Fischer of all people.

"Dude, you really are trying to lose her again aren't you? 'hey honey so your partnered up with your mortal enemy but why can't I trust you'? Do you know how selfish that sounds? Way to be supportive man. Gee-I wish you were my boyfriend."

"Are you through?" Seeley asked bitterly.

"Did I get through to you dummy? She's not Patyon-trust her like she trusts you. Trust us that we aren't going to take her behind your back-neither is Zack." Fischer stopped talking and skated off the ice, it had been two hours and he had to get Cordie and Michelle home. Booth followed thinking about what he'd heard tonight and realized that Fischer was right.

Fischer and Seeley put their shoes on and went down to the free skate rink and Fischer said, "Remember how I observe women? Observe this" he sauntered over to where some teenage girls were perched on the boards watching Jared, Howard and some other 8th grade boys skate around. "Hello ladies…I'm Colin Fischer and I believe you've been asking for me?" The girls turned to see him smiling and leaning against the boards, his arms crossed a smile on his face. Michelle said, "Fish beat it-no one would ask for you specifically, send Booth over here why dontcha?" They all laughed including Fischer and he said, "Well, you don't know what you're missing ladies."

"No, but we can guess" Michelle said. Fischer winked and walked back over to where Booth was waiting, "You see, classic bait and switch technique there-now if you go over there, they'll follow your every whim." He told Booth.

Laughing at him Booth walked over to girls and they immediately began to preen and adjust tops, hair and generally perk up at the handsome senior. He continued over to the ladies after letting them get prettied up and leaned on the boards between Cordelia and Michelle. "You two ready to go home?" he asked low and huskily, he smiled his full smile at Cordie and she blushed bright red. She'd known Seeley her whole life and had the biggest crush on him. "Yes, I guess so Seeley" she said.

"Alright kiddo" he grabbed her around her waist and set her down on the ground and winked at her before walking back towards Colin. She blushed again and melted against the boards. "He is so hot" she said to the rest of the girls that were jealous he'd touched her and not them.

"Jarhead, Howie, let's go!" Fischer yelled breaking up the giggle fest that had happened when the younger boys skated over to the girls. The four of them left Zams and when Seeley dropped them off Fischer said, "Think about what I said man-it's all up to you." Seeley dropped Howard off and then he and Jared drove home silently, each lost in thoughts of the girls that meant so much to both of them.

CHAPTER 71A

Wednesday morning Tempe went straight to Alana's locker instead of her own, the books she needed for her first couple of classes were the same ones she'd needed for homework the night before, so had no need to go to her own. Kersten and Sammy showed up and the four of them were chatting and laughing as they headed to their classes before the first bell. Tempe was telling them all about her first class at the museum and how much fun it had been. She didn't mention Seeley, but Alana could see that she was holding something back. She told herself she'd ask her at lunch what was going on with the two of them. Homework or not, she never came to her locker first thing in the morning.

Seeley had been waiting by her locker hoping to speak to her before class, when she didn't arrive he had to force himself to believe that she wasn't avoiding him on purpose. He went to class, telling himself that he'd talk to her during lunch. He knew that everything Fischer had told him was true. He was afraid to trust her completely, he'd trusted Payton completely and she stomped, mutilated and spindled that trust repeatedly. He was replaying events in his mind when Wendell caught up to him outside of his first block class. "Hey Seel, glad I caught you, here Angela wanted me to give this to you. She said all you would have to do is sign it and give it back." Wendell handed him a large manila envelope, inside contained all the documents Seeley would need to press charges against Payton, Caroline and Daisy for the photos. Thanking Wendell, he headed into class and opened the envelope. Reading through the documents, his mind's eye was punctuated with scenes of him and Payton, him pushing her on the swings when they were kids, pushing her off the swings when they were older. Their first kiss, sharing an ice cream cone, birthday parties, lake parties, all the memories a person could have of someone they've known for over 10 years. When he reached the last page of the stack of papers he hesitated only slightly before signing his name and putting them back into the envelope. His heart twisted slightly, but he knew he was doing the right thing. She certainly knew what she was doing.

At lunch, Temperance was going to her locker when Wendell caught up to her in the hall, "Tempe-Angela said she wanted to go to lunch with you today, she's in the back lot now, I can take your stuff to your locker for you, what's the combo?" Surprised and happy about lunch with Angela, she gave him her stuff and wrote her combo on his hand and then left through the side doors of the hallway to head to the parking lot. It was still very windy and wet outside, Temperance was glad she had her heavy jacket on. She pulled it tighter and sunk even deeper into it. She missed Andy. She missed her mom and dad too. She would be able to talk to her mom about Seeley, or Andy. He'd have good advice. She didn't want to go down this road, so she blinked rapidly, shook her head slightly and looked for Angela. Seeing the large crowd of boys around a car, she knew exactly where she was. The Aston was always a huge draw whenever Angela drove it. Her dad must be in town again, as that was the only time she was allowed to drive it.

Excusing herself through the crowd, Temperance slid into the passenger seat as Angela slowly pulled out of the parking lot. "This is a surprise Ange-you usually don't come to lunch with me, what's up?" Tempe asked as soon as they were on the roadway. "I was so rude to you last night, more concerned with hooking up with Wendell than paying any attention to you, and I wanted to apologize, so I thought we'd go mall grazing. We can talk; you can catch me up on all the drama at St. Agony HS?"

"Sounds good to me Ange" and Temperance spent the next 20 minutes telling her everything that had gone on. She told her all about the fight she and Seeley had had on the stairwell, she also told her about the night he snuck into her room. Angela's face flared red and then she applauded silently her friends' aggressiveness. "I was pretty nervous to be honest Ange, I must have done something right though, because he was completely helpless!" she giggled and reached for a bit of pretzel from the free samples set out in front of Twisty & Bendy. The last time they had been here, they'd been shopping for the perfect dress, Temperance felt a slight pang of regret, she'd never get to wear the dress, but she'd never been 'mall grazing' either and it was fun. All of the food vendors put free samples out during the lunch hour to entice people to try their wares. All it served to do was give people a free lunch for the most part.

"Angela, do you still have my dress and stuff?" Temperance asked around a bite of cinnamon roll.

"Yes, I do, why?"

"Maybe you can bring that stuff back and get your money back? I'm not going to be able to go, so there is no point in wasting the money on that stuff. I have the receipts for my stuff still so if you could get my cash back that would be cool too."

Putting down the triangle of Greek pizza she'd been nibbling on, Angela said, "I'm not bringing that stuff back, you may still get to wear it after all. What if we tell the Sweets it's a benefit for the museum? They couldn't say no could they?"

"There is no way I would be able to go to a benefit any more than a dance, if I don't HAVE to be there, they aren't going to let me go."

"Have you asked? I mean, it might not be that bad?" Angela asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not even going to chance it, instead I'm just going to be happy that I get to see you and Max and Zack 5 days a week, and I can still see Seeley." She trailed off thinking, if he wants to see me. She brought the conversation back to the fight she and Seeley had as they drove back to the school and asked Angela what to do. "I don't think you should do anything, do you have any feelings for Zack? Any at all?" she asked Temperance.

"No, I mean I'm happy when I get to see him, he's smart, funny and he and I have a lot in common, but unless I'm talking to him, I don't really think of him at all." She knew this was true, she liked being around him, but never thought of him aside from when she was at the museum. There was only one person that had her attention 24/7 and he didn't seem to want it.

"What about Seeley?"

"What about him?"

"When do you think of him?"

"All the time, even when I'm not with him I think of his hands, his eyes, the way he laughs, the way he smells. How he makes me feel so tiny when I'm next to him, I love his enthusiasm for the things he loves, how he tries so hard to fake interest in the things I love. I think of him when I'm with him, when I'm not, when I go to sleep, when I wake up, all the time Ange."

"Have you told Seeley this?"

"In so many words, I mean I didn't write it down on a list to check off. Angela, I'm really unsure what to do, but I know that I shouldn't have to keep apologizing to him all the time. I haven't done anything. Payton took pictures of us, not the other way around. She and her henchwomen attacked me behind the gym; I don't know why he insists on thinking that I'm going to just rush into Zack's arms immediately when he and I have issues. I did one time, and it wasn't because I love Zack or anything, he reminds me of Andy, and I needed to talk to a guy and see what was going on from a guys' point of view. You know?"

Parking the car in the back of the lot, Angela turned to her friend and said, "Seeley's only frame of comparison was Payton. You and he have both told me that she cheated on him all the time. So, maybe he thinks that all girls are like that, maybe that's why he acts the way he does. If it were me, I'd stop going to Zack to ask guy questions, and go directly to the guy. Tell him you don't understand his behavior, or what just happened and the two of you figure it out together. If you want to be with him, then maybe this is the way to make that happen." She smiled at her and put her hand on her knee. "Go get 'em honey, he's just as messed up as you are!"

"Thank you Angela, it's nice to know I'm 'messed up'" she laughed at her friends' 'aw shucks' expression. "Wait a minute; I didn't get to hear about you and Wendell! Tell me!"

Angela looked at the dashboard clock and they had a few more minutes until the lunch hour was over, so she told her all about how the two of them had gone to a little club near downtown. He was able to get in without needing an ID. "He's a really good dancer for such a big guy, plus, I'll tell you what, that boy has got hands like you wouldn't believe!" she told her fanning herself dramatically.

"Did you kiss him?" Temperance asked, still so much younger than her friend.

"I kissed him, he kissed me and believe me, if it hadn't of been a school night, it would have gone a LOT further than that!" winking she told Temperance she'd give her more details later on, Temperance had to get back to class. "One thing though, he invited me to the dance on Saturday, and I told him I'd tell him later. I don't think I really want to go to a high school dance you know?" her mouth twisted up wryly on 'high school'.

"Oh, I think you should definitely go, he'd be the hero of the dance and you would be the prettiest thing there, so what if it's high school? You could always leave early and go do older stuff, but I bet it would make his whole HS experience if he went with a girl like you!" Tempe told her getting out of the car, so glad she wore pants today.

"Maybe I will, it just sucks that you can't go."

"There will be other dances, when I'm 18 the Sweets can't tell me no!" she shut the door and huddled into her jacket and walked back up to the school. Turning to wave at Angela as she pulled out of the parking lot, she realized she was just barely going to make Biology so avoiding her locker unintentionally again; she went straight to the class that was rapidly becoming her least favorite.

CHAPTER 71B

He was waiting by her locker again when Wendell came up carrying her army green messenger bag and looking intently at his hand. He glanced up and saw Booth there and jumped back slightly in surprise, "Dude-you scared the crap out of me" he told him, reaching for her lock.

"Why do you have the combo to her locker Wendell, and her stuff?" he asked his face and voice both confused.

"Angela came to take her to lunch; I told her I'd take her stuff to her locker for her, so she wouldn't have to worry about it, why? Did I break some sort of code or something?" Wendell thought Booth was being overly touchy about Tempe too and didn't really want to deal with the Spanish Inquisition right now.

"Oh" Seeley said, "I thought she and I might go to lunch, I haven't seen her all day and I needed to talk to her. Do you know where they are going?" he asked hopefully.

"No, but I know they don't need you showing up, Angela probably wanted to tell her all about our little encounter last night" he grinned and raised his eyebrows at Seeley, "come on, I'll buy you a slice of cafeteria pizza and we can hang out like we used to before we became members of our own little Melrose Place cast." Wendell put her bag in the locker and closed the door and he and Seeley headed off to the cafeteria, they rarely ate in there, Fischer always joked that he liked the atmosphere and the wait staff was excellent. Seeing him ahead of them, already practically at the cashier, they got into the back of the line and waited to get to the food. Fischer caught Seeley's eye and indicated they could cut if they wanted; Seeley shook his head and indicated they'd meet up at a table. Fischer grabbed his tray and moved out of the line and came back to stand with them. "There might be something I missed" he said when Wendell asked why he didn't just stay where he was. Indicating the tray that appeared to have at least one and sometimes two or three of everything, Seeley said, "I find that hard to believe Fisch-what are you trying to do, eat your weight in bad cafeteria food?"

Smirking and looking down at the heavily laden tray Fischer said, "No Mr. Booth, I'm conducting an experiment, you see, I propose that if you eat heavily of preservative laden foods, you will in essence preserve yourself. I see no reason why I should age past where I am now, so I think I've got a logical conclusion to prove."

Since Fischer was by far the weirdest person he'd ever known and he knew that no matter of argument was going to change his mind, Seeley just smiled and nodded. By the time they were able to get trays of their own and start to get lunch, half of what he'd grabbed was gone anyway.

Sitting down the three of them looked around and each of them had the same thought almost at once, "Remember when we were freshmen?" Fischer asked around a mouthful of pudding.

"Yeah, we were so dumb" Seeley said remembering the time that he and Fischer had thought that because they were on the football squad they could sit with the varsity players at lunch. Being escorted promptly back to their side of the cafeteria in front of everyone had squashed that right away.

They spent the rest of the hour reminiscing about the three previous years they'd spent there and about encounters in elementary and middle school. Sometimes laughing so hard they couldn't speak, it was the best lunch they'd had in a long time. Towards the end of the hour Fischer pushed back from the table and said, "I'd like to see a dessert menu if they have one" as he looked expectantly around the cafeteria for someone to clean the table, "You are really out there Fish, you know that?" Wendell said finishing his drink and throwing it into the trash can about 10 feet away.

"Yeah, it's a burden to be sure. Speaking of which, Booth, did you get a chance to talk to the Lady Temperance today?" he'd gathered all of his trash onto his tray and was attempting to make a sculpture out of it.

"Not yet, I missed her this morning, and she went to lunch with Angela, I'll catch her after school though. Its freshman orientation in Gym for the new semester, so I'm gonna bail. Hodgins doesn't need me for that; he's got half the damn team in gym right now."

"Do you think ambushing her before work is the right way to handle it man?" Wendell asked, he'd been filled in on the hockey conversation in Psych class by Fischer. "She may not want to get wound up before she goes in."

"How am I going to wind her up? I'm gonna apologize to her, tell her what a tool I've been and beg her to forgive me, should be pretty easy right?" His two friends looked at him with equal looks of bemusement and pity. "Sure, sounds easy man, good luck." Fischer smirked.

"Oh hey, did I tell you guys, Angela agreed to go to the dance with me!" Wendell said, his eyes sparkling. Last night with her was a real eye opener, he thought he knew some stuff, but being with her it was obvious, he didn't know jack. "She told me she was going to try to talk Tempe into sneaking out to go with you Seel, but she wasn't real optimistic. What about you Fisch, who you taking?"

The three of them got up with the warning bell and started off to the gym, I'm taking me, myself and I, that way I have a choice of whom to dance with, and I'll never get bored." Fischer replied. He had thought about asking Daisy, but realized under the circumstances, that would be the wrong move altogether. "You should see if one of those girls Temperance hangs around with wants to go, that dark haired one is pretty cute, the tall one?" Seeley said, he knew her name started with an A, but couldn't think of it right off hand. This is one of those things he would need to work on, he thought.

"Maybe, maybe I will" Fischer said stroking his chin, waving goodbye he hurried off to class, trying to talk to a group of girls about the way they were carrying their books and how it would be much better if they didn't have them so tight to their chests.

"He'll never grow up will he?" Wendell said to Seeley as they grabbed their stuff for class.

"Nope, never, he's been that way since I first met him" and Seeley began to tell Wendell about how the two of them had first met, Fischer bleeding beside a bicycle and telling Seeley he'd wrecked on purpose to see what it would feel like.

"Hey man, good luck with Tempe today, when you get a chance to talk to her" and Wendell was off to his own class.

"Thanks Bray, see ya." Seeley replied, trotting down to the gym, he figured he'd go to class after all and catch her that evening at work. He'd spend the next few hours trying to figure out a way to make her believe he was going to try to change.

Filing into the biology classroom Alana made a face at Temperance to show her displeasure at the partner choices and then sat down next to her own partner, a junior named Noel Liftin, he was kinda creepy, harmless but creepy. He would talk to anyone that would listen about how hemp oil based skin products were the wave of the future. Tempe grimaced back and sat down next to Payton, but as far away as she could get.

There was a packet of paper between each set of partners and the teacher was explaining how they were to each record their own thoughts, procedures and hypothesis about what they would see and do during the dissections. They were also going to ask their partners a set of questions and record their answers. The project would be divided into two parts, this week they would work on the paper side of things, research and such, then next week following the Thanksgiving holiday they would do the actual dissections, the following week they would compare notes and write a joint essay to be handed in the week after that. Rolling her eyes, Payton picked up the packet and turned through the pages, dividing up one set of questions for each of them. "What's your phone number, so I can call you with this stuff as I get it done?" She asked without looking up at Temperance.

Quietly Temperance muttered, "I don't have a phone."

"What? You don't have a phone? That's lame, what about your parents, do they have a phone?" she asked scathingly.

"Yes" Tempe gave her the number and wrote herself a reminder to tell the Sweets that she would be calling and that it was for school. She wrote down Payton's number in case she needed it and then the two of them started to work on the paperwork, it was tense, but they were able to at least get through the first step. Each of them was wondering if the other was going to bring up the pictures, or Seeley or any of the problems Payton had caused, but neither one of them wanted to be the first to do it. Temperance decided she'd let Payton bring it up and she'd just do her work and only speak when spoken to. Payton on the other hand was dying to know if they'd been together 'together' and what Seeley had told Temperance about her. Shallowly, she also wanted to know if they were going to the dance together. Deciding that was a somewhat safe topic, and not comfortable working silently, Payton asked, "What color is your dress?"

Looking down at her school uniform Temperance wasn't sure what she was talking about, "What dress?" she said back.

Rolling her eyes again Payton elaborated, "the dress you are wearing to the dance on Saturday, you and Seeley are going aren't you?" she wondered how this girl could be so smart and still so dumb at the same time.

"I'm not going to the dance with Seeley; I'm not allowed to go." Temperance told her hoping she'd leave it alone.

"Oh-I didn't know that, is he still going?" she asked, completely twisting the knife into Tempe's heart.

"I don't know, we haven't talked about it, I'm sure if Wendell and Fischer go he will. It doesn't matter to me one way or the other to be honest. Now, what do you think of question 6?" She answered trying not to let Payton see just how much it bothered her that she wasn't going to the dance, and that she didn't know if he was still going or not. Payton just raised an eyebrow and turned the paper over to look at the 6th question. Drifting into discussion of the paperwork, they avoided mentioning anything else about the dance until right before the bell rang. "Well, I'm going to the dance with Mack; it's too bad you won't be able to go Tempe." She smiled and grabbed her things and met Daisy and Caroline at the door at the end of class. The three of them took off laughing and chatting. Alana met Tempe at the door and said, "So, was it hell?" she recognized the stricken look on her face.

"Yeah, pretty much. She wanted to chit chat about the dance and Seeley, I tried to keep it on the assignment, but you know" she trailed off, "Are you going to the dance?" she asked Alana as they met up with Kersten and Sammy.

"I wish, but probably not, I haven't been asked yet; Kersten, Sammy, are you guys going?" Alana asked.

"Not me" Sammy said, "we're leaving for Granna's Friday after school and won't be back until next weekend,"

"Nope, haven't been asked, I may just go solo though." Kersten said. She was the romantic among them and rarely missed an opportunity to mingle with boys.

"Well, maybe you and I will go K, and then we can spy on Perotta and her team of knit wits for Tempe?" Alana grinned at her friends.

"Sure, sounds good!" Kersten agreed and then they parted ways, the three of them going to their last class and Tempe to her locker to put her stuff away before going to the bus. When she got to the locker, she pushed aside Seeley's stuff and grabbed the bag that Wendell had stowed for her and decided she would take the hoody Seeley had left in there to the museum also. She'd been cold in the classroom yesterday, and she'd be able to leave it at the museum so the Sweets wouldn't know any better. Heading o the bus lot she waited patiently in the covered stop and listened to the rain hitting the sides and top of the structure.

~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~

Judge Scallion looked at the two sets of requests in front of him and sighed. It wasn't often he was presented with adoption papers for the same person. In fact, he couldn't recall any other time that it had happened. One of the petitioners was very high profile, had the financial resources necessary and was diligent in their request. They'd completed all the classes that had been requested, had finished all the profile and character assessments and in record time. The other petitioners were her current legal guardians and although they had also finished all the requirements he was hesitant to just agree with their request. There were some anomalies between the two requests and he wanted to discuss those in private with the attorneys before he made any decisions. He wondered if maybe talking to the child in question might not be a bad idea. Sending off two copies of an email to each of the petitioner's attorneys, he decided he'd go with his gut feeling before making any decisions. He firmly believed that by sitting down with people he was able to discern what parents would be the best for any child, and he'd never been wrong yet.

Lance opened up the email he'd been sent at work and silently cursed. He and Rebecca had submitted paperwork to legally adopt Temperance and there the judge handling the adoption had asked to speak to him and his attorney this afternoon. His own attorney thought it was just a preliminary judgment and assured him that the adoption was a slam dunk. He hoped so, Rebecca and he had been as patient as they could during the last year and a half. They wanted this to all be over with, Temperance needed to be set straight in her upbringing, the sooner the better. Calling Rebecca, he told her what time they were to meet in the judge's chambers and he told her he'd meet her there. Leaning back in his chair, he wondered what more the judge would ask of them before Temperance became their legal daughter.

Pam Noonan read through the email and then called her client. Filling them in on the judge's request, she was quick to assure that it was most likely just a precautionary meeting and not to get too upset by it. She wouldn't require their presence there and would fill them in on what happened as soon as she left the meeting. She reiterated to her client that she would be able to make this happen smoothly and then hung up the phone. She'd been their lead attorney for over 20 years, and she loved her clients like family. They were good people. She wanted this adoption to happen for them as much as they did. She pulled out the file and went through it, all the notes all the incidences over the past couple of years, just to make sure she would be on solid ground during the meeting. Telling her secretary she was going to gone for the day, she headed over to the courthouse for her afternoon meeting.

CHAPTER 71C

Seeley was on his way to get some milk at the store for Pops when his phone rang, "Hello?"

"Seeley? Hey it's Ange-oh my god, you have to come to the museum this evening."

"Is something wrong? Is Tempe okay?" He had pulled over to take the call and was looking for a break in traffic to head back downtown toward the museum.

"No, she's fine, we got this new exhibit and she's in the middle of it, it's a total blast, but I wanted you to come see her, she doesn't know I called, it's on the 3rd floor, west wing. Just ask Russ to give you directions. When you get here, just go to the employee only door and head towards the noise. Be quiet though, I want you both to be surprised." Angela could barely contain herself; she could not believe how much fun Temperance was having with this new exhibit. Max's class had been put in charge of setting it up; it was due to open on Saturday.

"Okay, I'll be there around 7 will she still be messing with it?" he asked, wondering what was so special about this one exhibit.

"Oh I'm sure, they've been playing with it nonstop since class started; it's really a lot of fun. I'll talk to you later big man, got a tour coming up." Angela hung up and headed over to the group of people gathered for one of her tours.

Seeley stopped by the store and headed home. He and Jared were going to make dinner for Pops tonight; he was actually looking forward to it. Pops deserved a break; he'd already raised his kids and now was raising two more, and he and Jared tried to make dinner once a week. Afraid to see what Jared had done without him, Seeley was surprised when he got in the kitchen, unlike their usual messes there were only two pans in use and Jared hadn't broken anything yet. He was however dancing to the Flo-rida song playing on his iPod and was making quite the scene in the kitchen; Seeley stopped in the doorway and watched his gangly little brother try to move smoothly to 'low'. Spinning around on his heel Jared said, "Shawty got, low, low,- oh hey Seeley." His face blushed crimson and Seeley laughed, "Apple bottom jeans?"

"Something like that." Jared said grinning at him. "I've got the sauce cooking, the noodles are ready and then we can layer it up & put it in the oven, which I've already pre-heated." Jared told his brother, quite proud really, usually he forgot the oven part. "Good job Jarhead, I've got the milk, picked up the garlic bread and salad, so we are good to go, let's get the pan out and start layering." The boys loved making lasagna, they used to make it with their mom and she always let them put the noodles on. Soon after their grandpa took them in, he let them make whatever they wanted for dinner and the three of them had hit on the perfect recipe for lasagna after much trial and error. Normally, every pot and pan in the house was utilized; over time it appeared as though they may have figured out how to do it with less.

Jared and Seeley took turns ladling the sauce, layering the noodles and cheese and were completely oblivious to their Grandpa standing in the entry way, his eyes slightly misty and a hitch in his chest. He loved those boys, was glad that he was able to provide for them, and only wanted the best for them. It wasn't often that they got along so well, but on lasagna night, it was like they were the lost little boys he'd taken from their house and gave them a home. Turning to put the lasagna in the oven, Seeley saw his Pops and winked at him. He knew that he was there watching them, just like he did when they were little kids. "Okay guys, how about a game of domino's while that cooks?" Seeley said, smacking his brother on the butt with a towel. "Loser does dishes?"

"Oh you are on" Jared said, getting the game down from the shelf in the closet. He and Pops started the game while Seeley set the table quickly and then sat down to play. The Booth boys soon became lost in their game and for the first time in a couple of weeks, Seeley was at ease.

At the museum, Temperance let go and went flying, she landed lightly in the foam squares and jumped up, her hands over her head like Rocky. "I almost made it to 3 seconds that time!" she yelled, and pumped her fist. She was laughing as she climbed out of the foam and headed back over to the source of her amusement. "Yeah, but you were only one level 2! It's barely moving!" Zack said laughing himself.

"Okay Smarty, you do it then, get past level 2 and go longer than 3 seconds!" she told him as she headed over to the controls. They could hear the squeals and laughter from the other students in the class that were at different parts of the exhibit. "After this, I want to try the water rides" Temperance told Zack.

"You mean when I break your record ride?" he smirked.

"Yes, when you stay on there for the full ride Cowboy Addy!" she told him, turning the control to on. Zack walked over to the mechanical bull in the middle of the pit of foam and mounted up. The museum was putting on an 'interactive' exhibit; there was a mechanical bull, water ski's, surfboard, skydiving drop and a zero gravity moonscape. It was going to be a big addition to the museum and was expected to get over a million visitors in the first year it was open. They'd been putting it together for the past 3 months, and Max's class was putting the final touches in. They were putting up the instruction boards, fine tuning the lighting and also were in charge of 'testing'. It had been fully tested already and deemed safe, but Max thought it would be fun for the kids to play on it without any distractions, so shortly after class started he brought them up to start the 'tests'.

Temperance had taken off her hoody and had tied the tails of her white shirt under her bra to make a half shirt; she'd unbuttoned the top 3 buttons and had tied her hair into a messy, yet sexy ponytail with her tie. She'd taken off her loafers and was wearing striped socks. Most of the girls had dressed down as well, it was hot in the room since it wasn't open yet, and it was still behind heavy sheets of wood, so there was little air flow. Most of the guys were bare chested or had unbuttoned their shirts and removed their shoes as well. Max was sitting in the corner laughing out loud as his students cavorted about and acted like small children. Although there was a lot of science to learn, centrifugal force, gravity and the like, right now, he just wanted them to be kids. They had the rest of their lives to know how things worked.

Zack got situated in the saddle, one hand palm up under the leather strap on the back of the 'bull' and the other in the air, he had his baseball cap on backwards and yelled, "Yeehaw let 'er rip!" Tempe turned the control from on to level one and the bull started to spin to the left, when she moved it to level 2 it started to spin a little faster. He was still holding on when she put it up to level 3 which introduced a slight buck. Right on cue he went flying into the foam pit. "Ha Ha!" she laughed and did a little dance, "I knew you couldn't do it either!"

Laying there in the foam Zack was watching the room spin lazily and listening to the rest of the class, he sat up and saw that she was dancing and pointing at him. Smiling broadly he got out of the foam and said, "Okay Miss Thing, which water one? Water skiing or surfing?" Neither one of them was actually in the water; they were just simulators that were set up to mimic the movement of surfing and water skiing. On the water skiing one there was a rope that you held onto and put both feet into the boots, once your feet were in, the rope would get taunt and then there was a large belt that simulated waves, you could cross the wake and move from side to side. Unfortunately, you could also wipe out which seemed to be more fun for some of the students than staying upright. The surfing one was set up so that when you put your feet on the board, it would start to move through the surf, if you stayed balanced, it would move more dramatically, and faster, if you overbalanced it would stop, causing you to fall into the foam.

"I think the water skiing one; I want to try to jump!" Tempe told him, clapping her hands together like a child. "Water skiing it is my friend, hop on up." The rest of the students crowded around and were laughing and pointing watching her on the simulator, they were all enjoying Max's little treat.

Seeley and Pops each won a game of dominoes, so the two of them told Jared he could take the evening off, they'd do the dishes. Jared headed upstairs to get on his computer and Pops and Seeley started the dishes. Pops never used the dishwasher if there was someone to help dry, so he and Seeley used this time to talk. "How is school Shrimp?" he asked him, filling the sink.

"Not too bad Pops, we're not really doing a lot, we've got all next week off and then it's finals, so they're giving us a break. Mostly review and stuff. I'm pretty sure I'll come out of this semester with mostly all A's."

"And your little lady friend? How is she?" he asked, looking up at his grandson while he dried the dinner dishes.

"You know Pops, it's complicated, we have some things to work out. I'm going to go see her tonight in fact. I mean, it's nothing too bad, just…well, I've got some things to work on, let's just say that." He didn't want to come out and tell his Grandpa he was being an idiot.

"She's got you all in a twist huh?" his Pops said and winked. "It's okay; I think that women are programmed that way. Are you taking her to the big dance on Saturday? The store called about your tux today, it's ready whenever you want to pick it up, by the way, I forgot to tell you earlier."

Seeley had forgotten that he had already gotten that ordered and fitted; he should call them and tell them he wouldn't need it. "No, she's not allowed to go. Her parents won't let her. I'm probably going to go to Zams for a while. Wendell and Fischer want me to go with them to the dance, Wendell is taking Angela, and I should probably go since I was the Winter Formal King last year, I think I have to do some crown thing, but I'm not gonna go. It's too depressing." He shrugged.

"You should go with your friends, have some fun, dance with Angela have some laughs. There are a lot of things that you will be doing for the last time this year Shrimp, and dances are one of them. Enjoy what you can. You can make it up to your girl some other time, she'll understand, and since her parents won't let her go anyway it should be okay." He pulled the drain in the sink and took the towel from his grandson, "Go on and go see your girl, I'll finish these up."

"Maybe I will Pops, maybe I will. Are you sure about the dishes? I don't mind." He told him already edging to the door, if he hurried; he'd be there right about 7 o'clock.

"Nope, go on Shrimp; give her a smooch for me." He shooed him away with the towel and turned back to the sink. "Thanks Pops!" Seeley told him, going into the front closet and grabbing his jacket; he headed to the driveway and his truck and wasted no time driving to the museum. Going inside the main entrance, Russ was standing in the doorway of the gift shop talking to Amy and he walked over to him and asked for directions. Russ told him how to get to the exhibit and sent him on his way.

Jogging up the stairs, Seeley followed Russ's instructions and came to a construction entrance. Pushing open the door, he followed the emergency lighting until he began to hear the noise of the students in Max's class. He went to the doorway and watched the scene in front of him. There were 10 students, all of them either on or watching someone on a simulator of some sort. There was a huge acrylic box in the corner that had a giant fan in its base, one student would put on a 'chute' and then would jump over the fan once it was turned on. The force of the blades and the chute would suspend the student as if they were sky diving, next to that was another large see through box that had some sort of spongy flooring in it. When the kids would go in, there would be a reverse suction and the room would become momentarily weightless, allowing them the sensation of zero gravity.

Booth watched in awe, it all looked like a lot of fun. Suddenly his attention was diverted to the mechanical bull and he had to step back when he saw who was riding it. His girlfriend, her shirt tied under her bra, her pants low on her hips, hips which were undulating with each buck of the bull. She'd been staying steady at level 3 and then was moved to level 4 and the bull begin to spin faster and each buck was deeper. One arm up to maintain balance, she looked like she knew what she was doing, until the bull began to spin the other direction and she was thrown harmlessly into the foam pit. Laughing she jumped up and was helped out of the pit by one of the other girls. "That is soo much fun!" She laughed, "okay, I got up to level 4 for…."she looked at the digital readout, "3 seconds, anyone want to challenge me?" hands on her hips, Seeley thought she had never looked more desirable and he began to walk into the room. Zack saw him come in and caught his eye; Seeley put his finger on his lips and looked at Zack to make him be quiet. Walking up behind her, he put one hand on her bare stomach and the other on her hand and said into her ear, "I'm up for that challenge Bone Lady."

Temperance tensed slightly and turned to him. Smiling she said, "I didn't know you would be here, this is a surprise." She was somewhat leery of him being there, she was having too much fun to get into another argument with him. "Angela told me about your new exhibit and thought maybe I'd like to come try it out too." He saw the hesitation in her smile and knew what she was thinking.

"Okay class, gather up your stuff, you all can play on this stuff more on Saturday when it is open to the public, we'll need instructors, for now, class is over and you all need to get downstairs." Max said. He came over to Seeley and Tempe and said quieter and just for them, "lock up when you two leave."

He stood by the door and waited until they were all gone and then exited himself. Looking for her shoes, Temperance was pre-occupied and wasn't sure what was going to be said, when Seeley broke the awkward silence, "I owe you an apology Temperance. I've been waiting for you to cheat on me, and treat me bad, so I've been acting like you already have to avoid being hurt. That's not your fault, Payton did that to me. I've also been acting like an ass when it comes to your friends and mine. I'm sorry I've made you feel like you can't have friends of your own, and for making you feel like you couldn't be friends with Wendell, Colin and Zack. I know that I have a lot of issues Tempe, but I want to work on them, with you, for you." He stopped; he didn't know what else to say.

She looked at him for a few minutes, mentally working out what he had said, and then she told him. "I'm sorry too, I'm sorry for every time she cheated on you, every time she broke your heart, every time she made you feel like you have to fight or flee. I love you Seeley, but I can't keep doing this. This is it, the last time. I'm not going to feel like this every time we get together. I think about you when you aren't around, I crave you. But, I'm willing to learn to live without that full feeling in my heart to avoid all this drama. I have enough drama in my life without this too. I just want to be your girlfriend. I don't want to worry about all the what if's, the who's the why's none of it. Does that make sense?" She was still standing by the controls of the bull; he was on the far side of the pit where he had walked in. He could tell that she meant it; she wasn't going to come any closer until there was resolution. He knew that and respected that.

"Perfect sense. I want you to be my girlfriend too. I won't compare you to anyone else, anymore. You and I will make a whole new chapter and we'll wing it, okay?" he'd been walking closer to her and stopped about 2 feet away. "I don't want this anymore. No more jealousy, no more misunderstandings, no more rash decisions, just you and me. Okay?" he crept closer and held out his hand. Looking at his hand and then at him, Tempe stepped closer and wrapped his hand in hers. "Okay Big Man. You and me." She told him as he pulled her into a tight hug. "I missed you today" he told her quietly, his hand on her bare back. "I missed you too."

Seeley stepped back slightly and bent his head to kiss her as she rose on her tip toes to meet his mouth. Putting her arms around her neck, he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Setting her down, he pulled back and smiled down at her. "So, you wanna show me how well you can ride that bull?" he nodded his head to the center of the foam pit. "Why don't you show me?" she challenged. "Okay Missy" he drawled as he climbed onto the bull, "Go easy on me, I'm just a city boy you know." He winked and tucked his hand under the leather strap.

Tempe went to the control box and turned it on, through level one and two, he was holding on pretty well. "Crank 'er up" he told her, and she moved the dial to level 3 where the bull started to buck, watching his legs grip the side of the bull tighter, she said, "Want to go up a level?"

"I've got a better idea" he said, "bring it down to level one, and climb up here with me" He raised his eyebrows and smiled slightly at her. "I'm not sure it will hold us both," she said unsure just what he had in mind. "Believe me, it'll hold us both, just slow it down and come here."

Temperance kicked her shoes off and put the bull onto level one, where it was just spinning. He asked, "Can you make it buck in level one?" She looked over the controls and put it onto manual, the bull started to buck slowly forward then back, all the while slowly and lazily spinning. Waiting for a good opportunity, she slowly made her way to the bull and reached up just as it bucked down and Seeley pulled her up and set her in front of him. "It's like being on a carousel, sorta" he whispered into her ear. Pulling her closer to him, she fit just perfectly in the fork of his legs, spread across the back of the bull. Tempe was afraid she was going to fall and tensed up, grabbing the top of the bull at the safety strap. "Hold on, I've got you little one, just relax you're not going to fall, I've got you, trust me" he said into her ear as his mouth moved down below the lobe to nuzzle her neck. He had one hand on her bare stomach; the other was holding her arm upright with his outstretched hand. She leaned back and put that arm around his neck and rested it at the nape of his neck. He lightly grazed his lips against her neck and earlobe, all the while murmuring into her skin, his hot breath was sending electrical sparks down her body to her core, which was rapidly turning to liquid. Gasping, as his hand edged down to the juncture between her thighs and the pressure he exerted each time the bull dipped, she raised up slightly to try to kiss him. "Relax little one" he breathed into her neck and moving his hips slightly, she could feel his hardness against the swell of her butt. He continued to taste and tease her neck and then slid his hand under the waistband of her slacks. Thinking to himself, today would have been a good day to wear the skirt. She froze and her whole body tensed, Seeley stopped and waited to see what she would do. When she relaxed, he continued to move his hand lower and explore with his fingers. He felt how hot and wet she was through her cotton panties. Running his finger over her slick center, he loved it when she arched back and moaned quietly. Taking that opportunity, he slid his finger under her panties and felt the soft mound of curls, wet with desire, he could feel the heat in his whole palm. The bull was still spinning and pitching back and forth, each time it pitched forward, he pressed his finger against the small bundle of nerves and she would mewl like a small kitten, letting go of her other arm, which she now had tightly wrapped around his neck, he pulled her up on to his lap slightly which allowed his hand deeper access. Sliding one finger into her, she was tight and slick and he groaned himself against the back of her neck. He was throbbing behind his jeans and it was taking every bit of control he had not to stop this torture once and for all.

Seeley lightly traced her lips and inner folds with his finger before sliding it inside her again, making her gasp out loud. This time, he caught her mouth with his and plunged his tongue deep into her mouth. He let his finger mimic that movement and would stop and start the kiss and exploration at the same time. Panting now, she grabbed his leg with hers and said; "Oh Seeeley…don't stop" he pulled her so her ass was tight against his hard cock and whispered, "Not even if I could."

Temperance had never felt like this before, she felt like he was stoking a fire inside her and then was cooling it off at the same time. She felt her nipples tighten and the friction from her bra was a slow burn. Turning slightly towards him, she said, "We have to get off of this damn bull." Chuckling at her low, throaty command he said, "As you wish" and grabbed onto her as he slid backwards off the bull into the foam. Holding her tight against him, he relaxed his grip when she started to turn towards him. She got out of the pit and he felt like the sun had exited the room. She merely went over to the controls and turned it off and then sat on the edge of the pit and beckoned him over to her. Looking at her watch, she saw they only had about 10 minutes before the Sweets were due to arrive. Biting back a groan at what could have been without time constraints, he made his way over to her and leaned into her; while she wrapped her legs around his torso and leaned down to kiss him. "I didn't want you to stop" she breathed into his throat as she nuzzled and tasted his skin. "Someday I won't" he told her. His eyes pools of molten chocolate.

"I'm really sorry about all of this Temperance" he told her, placing a kiss against her palm. She looked him in the eyes and ran her hand down to his still hard bulge; "sorry about this?" she squeezed gently, eliciting a gasp from him. Taking her hand, he said, "No, about the way things have been between us lately" and then he cupped her wet core with his hand and said, "Never sorry about this" he smiled.

"We're good now, that's all that matters" she said as she stood up, "I've got to go, I'm sorry." He smiled sadly at her and climbed out of the pit, "its okay, someday you won't have to" he told her as they made their way back to the museum and the real world. "See you tomorrow?" he asked, kissing her lightly on the lips.

"Yes, in the morning. Sweet dreams." She told him, giving him a long slow kiss. "Now I will" he said, winking as he left the break room.

Temperance turned to the large mirror and attempted to straighten her hair and her shirt, his rough stubble had left red marks on her neck, but she found she didn't care. She was quite thrilled with the way that he had reacted to her body and was eager to take the next step. Stowing the hoody away, she put her jacket on and popped the collar to hide the marks on her skin as she headed outside to where the Sweets were waiting for her.

CHAPTER 72

That evening on the drive home the Sweets were unusually friendly. They'd asked about her day at school, her class activities at the museum and were generally making her feel uncomfortable. She was wondering what they had caught her doing this time when the shoe dropped as they drove into the garage. "Temperance, tomorrow you have a meeting with Judge Scallion at 11:30, your mom will be coming to get you at school. It's about the adoption proceedings. He said he wanted to ask you some questions and discuss what will happen before he will make a judgment." Lance said, he hesitated slightly, he didn't really want to tell her what the judge had told them today, but Rebecca insisted. "There is one slight hitch though; there is another petitioner for adoption so he will want to talk to you about that as well. I think we all know that it would be prudent of you to make a decision based on who can provide a better home, which of whom has already done that, and what your future entails."

"Who is the other petitioner?" She could hardly believe her ears, someone else wanted to adopt her now? Wasn't this a little sudden? She thought for sure that when the Sweets put in their paperwork it would be months rather than days. She was consumed with a sudden panic. After tomorrow she could be Temperance Sweets? Ugghh…the name alone was horrible, let alone being their legal daughter.

"I'm not sure, the judge said that he couldn't release that information, just that they filed for custody and then adoption about a month ago. So, needless to say, tomorrow could be a big day for you, for all of us really. Are you excited?" Lance asked as they entered the kitchen together.

"Yes, very excited" she faked a big smile and then getting a glass of water, she reached for the aspirin above the sink. "I just have a slight headache" she told them.

"Well, if you don't have any homework, I would suggest lying down, it'll make you feel better and you'll be well rested for tomorrow. Remember I'll be there around 11 or so to get you, at the office" Rebecca said, her smile was wide as she thought of what tomorrow would bring.

Nodding her head and smiling a tight smile Temperance agreed that that would be a good idea. This is pathetic she thought to herself going upstairs, it's barely 8 o'clock and I'm going to bed. Of course, her mental monologue continued, this time tomorrow I could be a Sweets, and no longer enrolled at the museum and pretty much living the life of a nun. Sighing, she got into sweats and a t shirt and sat cross legged on her bed in the dark, a pillow held on her lap and her head on the pillow. Wishing she had Booth or her phone, or even her radio she didn't realize that she'd been sitting there for 2 hours staring into space until she heard them come upstairs and go to their room for the night. Getting up, she used the bathroom and came back to her room. Getting under the covers, she leaned back onto the pillows, her head on her arms, and stared at the ceiling. She couldn't get past the conversation in the car. Not even the interlude with Seeley entered her brain, when that should have been all she was thinking of.

Another hour went by and she thought she might as well try to go to sleep when there was a light rapping at the window. Looking sharply to her left she saw a silhouette outside the window, and realizing it had to be Seeley again, she quietly got up and locked her door before tip toeing back to the window. Opening it carefully, mindful of the slight squeak, she said, "You have got to be kidding me Seeley, are you trying to get me in trouble?"

Taken aback by her brusqueness considering how things had ended between them earlier he cocked his head and grinned slightly, "Is this a bad time?" Deciding that it wouldn't do any good to get mad at him, she just rolled her eyes and said, "no, 11 o'clock on a freezing night on my roof is a perfect time Seeley" she smiled and grabbed her jacket, "But this time, I'm coming outside" she started to climb out and he said, "You better grab a blanket kid, it's cold and wet out here."

"It's wet too?" She scrunched up her nose and looked outside the window to the roof, it definitely was too cold to sit outside, "Well, what did you have in mind when you came up here?" she asked him.

"I thought maybe you'd sneak out, we could sit in the warm car and then I'd help you sneak back in, unless you just want me to come in? We could share that twin bed I think?" he grinned and winked at her. "I'll get my shoes on, but if I fall, I'm going to be very upset" she told him in a mock serious voice. "Now turn around, I have to change" doing as she asked, he turned slightly so she could change her pants. Looking over his shoulder briefly he saw her shimmy her jeans up over her panties and was momentarily propelled back to earlier in the evening. Quickly turning back as she snapped them up and put her shoes on, he helped her out of the window and to the edge of the roof where the tree branch met.

"Okay, I'll go first, that way I can catch you if you fall" he said. Muttering "when I fall" under her breath, she said, "Hold on, gotta shut the window" going back and shutting it almost completely, she couldn't believe the risks she was taking. Once again climbing back to the edge, she waited until he was all the way to the tree itself before reaching up to grab the upper branch. Doing so made her jacket and top slide up so far to reveal her taut, flat, tummy and he suppressed another surge of hormones. She was barely tall enough and had to tip toe slowly, each hand grip was tenuous at best until she was closer to the tree. He hung down and dropped to the ground soundlessly. When she got to the largest part of the branch and was able to stand flat footed, she slipped slightly and fell onto the fork of the largest branch. Both of them expelled shaky breaths and she giggled slightly. "SHHHH…" he said, whispering, "Now, just sit down on the branch, and jump, I'll catch you." It was no use; she had caught the giggles and was soundlessly trying to stifle the laughter. "I don't think that is gonna happen my friend" she snorted, trying to whisper, "I'm going to fall and crush you like a bug" she was struggling to hold onto the branch and still not laugh loudly, snorting and wiping her eyes, she had a mental image of the two of them on the ground.

"If you don't stop laughing Temperance, I'm going to have to wake the Sweets up to get you back in the house, do you want that?" his tone was exasperated, he couldn't believe how lightly she was taking this, although he thought, it was kinda funny. Sobering up as best she could, she slid down and sat on the branch, kicking her feet like she was on a swing to nowhere. "Jump" he said standing slightly underneath her. "Jump" she mimicked, rolling her eyes and blowing her breath out all at once, "Okay, here goes nothing Seeley Booth" she said in a loud whisper, as she pushed off from the tree. Landing in his arms and grabbing him around the neck as he staggered back she didn't realize she was holding her breath and squeezing her eyes closed until he whispered, "Why are your eyes closed?" Opening one at a time she could see the big smile on his face and when he started to giggle himself, she squirmed to be let down. "I don't know, it seemed like the thing to do" she said pointedly, "Maybe I didn't want to see what the landing would be like, didja ever think of that?" she said, wiping her hands on her pant legs and looking around the back yard. For his part, Seeley was actually bent over laughing himself as quietly as he could, "you should have seen your face; you looked like you were avoiding a bomb blast or something, not falling five feet!"

"Shut up Seeley, now do you have a plan for getting us out of here, or will be stuck and left to die in my backyard?"

Grabbing her up in a bear hug and kissing her nose he said, "I do, fair lady…it involves a very intricate and complex method of stealth…" taking her arm he lead her to the gate and pushed on it. "It wasn't locked, so I just walked on in" he told her grinning at the furious expression on her face, "What? Did you think there was going to be fence climbing too?" When she reached over to slap him he avoided her and wrapping her back in his arms, he walked behind her to the Explorer parked further down the road. Looking back over her shoulder and his as much as she could, she said, "How the hell am I going to get back up there? In my mind, I can climb that tree as easy as walking up the stairs, but in real life?" she raised one eyebrow and he said in her ear, "I brought a ladder little one, you'll be fine." This time he had nowhere to go when she elbowed him lightly and when she stopped abruptly, he almost fell over her trying not to knock her down, "oomph, what was that for?" he asked rubbing his ribs, a twinkle in his eyes.

"How long were you planning this daring escape?" she asked him, getting into the car.

"Since that last kiss at the museum" he told her as he started the car, "and where does this adventure take us next?" She said.

"I thought we could go to the park? We can sit in the car for a little while and talk, or whatever, and then I can bring you back, no one will even know you were gone."

"What if we're being followed?" The voice of doom was hard to keep silent given the past week's events. "Well, then she's some kind of stupid, because yesterday I signed paperwork pressing stalking charges against her."

The silence in the car was palpable. Temperance turned her head slowly to look at his profile as he drove through the darkened streets. "You did?" She squeaked. "Why?"

"WHY? Because she basically ruined your life, she intruded on mine, and she has to be held responsible for that. Payton knew exactly what she was doing, and she didn't have to go so far to make us question and doubt each other." He was surprised that Temperance didn't seem to want him to press charges, "Didn't you want to press charges?" he asked.

"I just figured it was in the past, it was done, there was nothing more to gain from it. I mean, I never would have even though to do that, did Angela?"

"I don't know, I think she did, I didn't ask. Are you mad because I did?"

Temperance didn't answer him at first. She turned her head to look out the passenger window, "I don't think I'm mad, I'm not sure what I am to be honest." She said eventually. Seeley didn't know how to respond to that, so he sat there quietly, lost in his own thoughts. Temperance broke the silence by saying, "Guess what?"

Quietly and with some hesitation he said, "What?"

"Tomorrow Rebecca is going to pick me up from school and I get to go talk to a judge. Apparently they've already processed the paperwork for my adoption, but there is someone else who has petitioned to adopt me as well. So, I have to go see the judge. Lance thinks it's a done deal, I'm not sure why or what the judge wants to talk about, but I'll only be at school until 11" she finished, looking over at him.

Seeley parked the truck in the parking lot of the park and unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to look at her, "Who else would want to adopt you?" he asked, not thinking of how that sounded.

"Well gee, Seeley that sounds so sweetly put." She said sarcastically.

"You know what I meant" he said, "Who else has petitioned?"

"I don't know, apparently that is sealed information, the Sweets didn't know either. I will find out tomorrow. I never realized I was such a hot commodity" she said in an overly dramatic voice.

"Oh you're hot alright" Seeley told her reaching over to unbuckle her seatbelt. Smiling at him, she leaned into his embrace and kissed him. Pulling back slightly, he said, "Want to sit in the back? I promise, I'll be a complete gentleman"

"I think that sounds like a fine idea, and you don't have to be a 'complete' gentleman, I can't promise I'll be a lady" Tempe told him as she climbed over the console into the back of the Explorer. There was a blanket and a ladder back there. Well, a large step stool was a better description. "Crap!" he said, "I forgot that was back there, hold on I'll move it" Seeley moved to open the passenger door, "It's okay, I can push it down to the back of the truck, it's not in the way, come on back here" she told him as he opened the passenger door, "Are you sure, is it comfortable?" he started to reach in and grab it.  
"Seeley, I just want to spend the time that I can with you, would you forget about the damn ladder?"

Grinning guiltily, he climbed into the back and sat down with his back against the driver seat. "Come here" he said, patting the floor between his legs. She smiled and climbed over to sit in his lap and leaned up against his chest. "I like sitting like this" she told him, lazily stroking his leg as his hand entwined in hers. "I like holding you like this" he told her back.

They sat there silently for a long while; just enjoying the sensation of being together, without needing to talk to fill the silence, neither one of them was feeling particularly amorous, just content to be with each other. Sighing slightly Tempe snuggled back against his chest and wrapped his arms around her midsection, "Whats wrong little one?" He asked her quietly.

"Nothing really…can I ask you a question?" she said, looking over her shoulder and catching his eye. He leaned down and kissed her softly, "Anything"

"Do you ever think of the future?"

"You mean like shiny silver suits and flying cars?"

"No Smartass, I mean your future, our future, do you ever wonder what's going to happen?"

Chuckling quietly he squeezed her slightly and said, "Sometimes"

"What do you think about?" she asked, plainly looking for more than a one word answer.

"I think about whether or not we'll be able to see each other outside of school, especially if the Sweets adopt you. I think about joining the Army and whether it's the right thing to do or not, or should I go to the U and stay here with you until you graduate, and then that takes me back to whether I'd be able to see you or not because of the Sweets. I think about what it would be like to go on a date with you, take you to dinner, have you over at my house. I think about what it will be like to make love to you" and stopping there he kissed her cheek and nuzzled her face with his, speaking softer, he continued, "I think about spending my life with you and whether you will want to spend yours with me, even though you're a sophomore and have so much ahead of you, I think about you graduating and going to Northwestern like you want to, and if you'll want me around" he sighed and pulled her close, "I think about whether or not I'm good enough for you…what do you think about?"

Temperance smiled slightly to herself, she thought of all those same things, almost in that same order. She had blushed when he mentioned making love to her; she thought that was the thing she thought about most of the time. Maybe it was the close confines of the truck or the sneaking out; she never did know what prompted her to say what she did to him. "What if I asked you to make love to me right now?"

She didn't look at him, just tucked her flame red face slightly into the collar of her jacket. She felt him tense and then relax, he pulled her tighter against his chest and held her close, whispering in her ear, "I would like nothing better, but if it happens, when it happens, it won't be in the back seat of my truck on a school night in the parking lot."

Smiling slightly she whispered, "Good."

"I think about those things too Seeley and I don't care that I'm a sophomore. I think about doing boyfriend and girlfriend stuff together, like going places, dates. I worry about you going into the Army, but I know it's the right choice for you. I wonder if you'll still want me when you come back. I worry that you won't come back and then I worry that you do come back and you will be a different man because of what you'll have seen, I wonder if I'm good enough for you and if you'll want to wait on me to graduate, it's two more years. I think about what I would say if you were to ask me to be yours forever and how dumb it is to even think about that, I'm 16 and you're 18. I think about telling you that I'm too young for you and letting you go so you can find someone your own age so you don't feel chained to a high school kid. I think about…well…what if I don't do it right, the first time." She paused and sighed again, "I mostly just wonder if you and I know what we want, if we're too young and whether or not any of this is real" She turned slightly and put her arm around his waist, snuggling deeper against his chest.

"It's real Temperance, all of it is real. Neither of us can promise forever. You've said it yourself a hundred times, people change, circumstances, cultures, societies, they all change. We'll change too. But, I can tell you right now, this instant, this moment, I'm yours. All of me." He took her hand in his and kissed her palm, "for as long as you want me I'm yours. For what it's worth, I don't care how good or bad you are the 'first time' as long as it's the first of many times."

She giggled and hugged him close. Looking at his watch he sighed, and said, "Bone Lady, I don't want to be the one to do this, but it's after 1 and I need to get you home, I wish we could stay here all night" he kissed the top of her head and linked her fingers in his. "I know I have to go…I don't want to though" She said as she moved to kneel in front of him. Placing her hands on either side of his face she touched his forehead to hers and said, "If it was up to me, we'd just be going home to our own place and I'd show you just how much I really do love you" and then she softly kissed his mouth, slowly deepening the kiss before pulling back and resting on her heels.

"I can feel how much you love me, every time you kiss me like that" he told her, his eyes shining in the slight glow of the lamppost outside. "For now, keep this to remind you just how much I love you" he pressed a piece of cold metal into her hand. Looking down she saw it was his class ring on a long gold chain, "I know it's cliché, but I want you to have it" he said, looking down as she cupped it in her hand. "I don't want the Sweets to take it, thank you Seeley, but I can't take this" she said trying to hand it back to him. "Wear it under your shirt, or put it in your jacket, wherever, just please keep it. I don't care what the Sweets say or do" he pressed her palm closed around the ring and then kissed her quickly on the cheek as he opened the door. Tempe sat still for a moment and then she climbed back over the console to the front seat as he climbed in. Putting the ring around her neck, she looked at him, her eyes bright and said, "I don't care what they say either Seeley." Smiling softly at her, he started the truck and drove them back to her foster home.

Getting the ladder out of the truck, they walked back through the open gate and he put the ladder against the back side of the tree. Telling her the best way to get up to the fork in the branches, he held the ladder steady as she climbed. Standing on the top step, she was still slightly too short to pull herself up, so he climbed up behind her and tucked his shoulder under her butt to give her a boost. Lifting her up, she grabbed the branch, stuck her foot out and pulled herself up until she was standing in the fork. He followed her carefully, underneath the branch that touched the roof until she was safely crouching on it. Whispering he said, "Flash the lights when you get in if it's all okay, I'll wait down here and then leave."

"What if it's not okay?" She asked exasperatedly.

"Um, I don't know to be honest" he said, "I hadn't thought that far ahead, it's not like I do this all the time!"

Shaking her head and rolling her eyes, she duck walked back to the window and pushed it open. She climbed inside and waited just inside. Taking her jacket off, she turned on the bedside light and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she went to the door. It was still locked, so she unlocked it and crept across the hall to the bathroom. The light was still off in their room and the door was closed, so she went back to her room and closing the door, she flicked the lights on and off rapidly. He gathered up the ladder and left via the gate. Standing on the sidewalk outside the back yard, he watched her close and lock the window; she turned the bedside lamp off and blew him a kiss before closing the curtains. Seeley turned and put the ladder in his truck and got into the driver seat. He was overwhelmed with so many emotions. He'd never felt like this before, his head spinning, his heart pounding, his chest tight. He knew that he'd loved her, a grown up, white dress grow old together kind of love. He just didn't know what to do about it.

Temperance changed back into her pajama bottoms and pulled the ring out of the collar of her shirt. Holding it she put it on her fingers, the only one it would remotely fit was her thumb, and even then she could spin it around. She saw his initials inscribed on the inside of the ring, the birthstone and football on the left. There were hockey sticks and his number, 51 to the right of the stone. She held it tight in her hand before putting the chain around her neck and climbing into bed. She didn't know what she felt, but she knew that whatever it was, it was real and it was going to last a long time.

CHAPTER 73A

Dressing carefully the next morning, well as carefully as one can in a school uniform, Temperance took extra time on her hair. Not one to wear makeup, she was usually content with chap stick, she took a moment to put on a light dusting of mascara and a pale pink lip gloss. She wasn't sure if she was making an effort for herself, or for the judge. Mostly, she was worried about who the other petitioners were. She'd been in a couple of different homes since her parents left. There were the Pritchard's, they were English and although they were pleasant, they'd really wanted children a lot younger than her, there was also the Duggar family, however they had so many of their own kids, she was sure she would've gotten lost in the shuffle there. The family before the Sweets though, they were the worst, it was the Hollings family. They locked her in a trunk of a car for 2 days when she accidently broke a plate. She'd been washing the dishes, and the water was so hot that she was having a hard time reaching in to get the dishes out. The older sibling, Kevin, had pushed her hand under the water and made her grab the plate, it slipped out of her hand as soon as she brought it out of the scalding water. Of course, that wasn't the story told to the parents, and she was forced into 'time out'. She called CPS as soon as she got out of the trunk and leaving everything but her jacket she walked to the nearest bus stop immediately after the call.

That's when she was put with the Sweets. Although they were a young couple, they had decided to foster a teenager rather than a younger child at first. They weren't able to have children of their own, and felt that getting a preteen or teenager was actually going to fit in better with their parenting goals. They wanted a child that was a product of their environment, a reflection of the parents themselves, and starting with an older child seemed to fit their ideas better. They explained them all in great detail to Temperance the first week that she was there. Along with all their rules, guidelines and expectations and rather than fight, Tempe just gave in. She reasoned that as long as she did what she was told, when she was told and how she was told she would be left alone. Over the past year and a half, that's how it went for her. It was only in the last month or so where she felt like she wanted to push the boundaries. She wasn't asking for much, just a chance to experience some sort of a normal teenage life. Taking one last look in the mirror, she grabbed her jacket and went downstairs. Lance had been waiting impatiently; he had an early deposition, so she grabbed a juice box and an apple and went straight to the car.

On the way to school he tried to talk to her about some of the things the judge may ask her about. He wanted her to be honest, but also wanted her to know how much he and Rebecca were looking forward to her being their daughter. "Some of the questions he asks may seem like they have no bearing on the proceedings, but judges listen to what you don't say as much as what you do. Remember that Temperance." He told her to have a good day and he would see her that afternoon. Getting out of the car, Tempe smiled at him and walked into the school. As soon as she was in, she leaned against a bank of lockers and took a deep breath. Trying to physically shake off the icky feeling she had from the conversation, she walked to her own locker. She pulled Seeley's ring out of her shirt, feeling it must be as large as a dinner plate. No one commented on it, until she got to her locker and Fischer and Seeley were waiting for her. "Egad! What is that shiny bauble you have suspended from your lovely neck Lady Temperance? The size alone astounds me!" Fischer said in his best (which still wasn't very good) English accent. "You sound Australian Fischer, and it's a ring I got from some guy, you like it?" she retorted, winking at Seeley.

"Some guy huh?" Seeley said in a quizzical tone.

"Yeah, some random dude asked me to hold it for him, not sure how long though. I told him I'd think about it" she smiled when he came closer and grabbed her around the waist and pressed her up against the locker, "some random dude huh" kissing her neck, "how about forever?" he kissed her lips and then stood back and smacking his lips said, "yum, strawberry, my favorite."

"Um yuck, where is that bag? Nope, not here, ummm…no, nope here either, oh yes there it is" Fischer was patting his pocket and pretending to read the instructions on an imaginary bag, "open top, spew, close top. Seems easy enough" he said looking at the two of them. "Some of us just ate, if you two don't mind?"

Laughing at the fake look of disgust on his face, Temperance went over and kissed his cheek, "there is that better?" immediately perking up Fischer put his fingers on the spot where she kissed him and his other hand on his heart and said, "Gosh Miss Tempe." She got the books that she would need for first and second block and then she and Seeley started to walk towards their first classes when Fischer said, "Tempe-hey, I need a date for the dance on Saturday, and well, would you mind if I went with Seeley? I think he's so dreamy…"

Seeley shook his head and looked at the ceiling in despair and tried to get Tempe to keep walking, turning around and walking backwards she said, "I can do even better than that, I bet you I can get you a date with a real live girl!"

"Really?" Fischer's voice went up an octave.

"Yes, really, I'll let Seeley take care of it, I'll be gone this afternoon, but you might have a date by tomorrow Fish! See you later!" she turned and waved and then she and Seeley continued down the hall. "Who are you going to con into going out with him?" Seeley asked her, helping her thread through the crowded halls.

"Alana, she wants to go and although she said she'd go with Kersten, I know she would be thrilled if someone asked her. Would you talk to her at lunch for me?" Seeing the look of utter disaster he gave her, she batted her eyes and pooched her lower lip out, "please Seeley? For me?" Rolling his eyes, he kissed her forehead and said, "Yeah, but don't think that is always going to work on me Missy." Patting her on the butt, he turned to go to his own class and told her "good luck."

She smiled and told him she'd try to get a message to him later today or would talk to him at the museum, she had class again tonight. He agreed to just come to the museum at 7 and they separated.

First and second block flew by and alternately dragged for Tempe. It seemed like every time she checked the clock, time had stood still, and yet the bells were ringing all the time. After second block, she was heading to the office to wait for Rebecca. She had about 15 minutes to kill so was elated when she spotted Alana going into the library. "Alana!" she shouted, turning Alana waved at her and waited for her to catch up. The two of them headed into the library together and Tempe told her about her meeting with the judge. "That sounds ominous, are you nervous?" Alana asked as they sat down at a large table by the door, "Kinda, but really, I don't know why. I mean, all he's going to do is ask me some questions. I'm more curious than anything. I'm a little worried too, what if the other people are better than the Sweets and I blow it?" her voice turned to a whisper at the glare from the librarian.

"What if they're better and you end up with them? That would be great!" Alana liked being the voice of glad to offset the voice of gloom her friends had sometimes. Nodding and smiling at her Tempe said, "oh yeah, Seeley is going to come find you at lunch and see if you want to go to the dance with Colin, I wasn't sure if I'd see you before I left, so I asked him to ask you. If Colin asked would you go with him?"

"Colin? Which one is he? The blonde one or the dark haired one?" Alana furrowed her brow and asked, she knew one of them was Wendell and one was Fischer. She didn't know who Colin was. "I thought Seeley's friends were Wendell and Fischer?"

"Colin Fischer and he's the dark haired one. The one with the goatee and the big grin. He totally reminds me of my brother, he's very funny and very sweet."

"Yeah, he's cute, if he asks me, I'll say yes. He's a senior too!" Alana's face was flushed at the thought of going to the dance with a senior. Her friends would be so jealous! "Cool, well Seeley will talk to you, I've got to go, I'll let you know how things go tomorrow, okay?" Tempe stood up to walk away and Alana said, "Wait" she stood up and gave her friend a hug, "Good luck Tempe." Smiling Tempe walked to the office where she got her dismissal pass. Rebecca walked in shortly after that and the two of them left to go to the courthouse. Rebecca gave her almost the same speech that Lance had on the way to school except for the last part, "I know that we aren't perfect parents Temperance, I know that there are things that you wish you could do that the other girls do, and I know that it's hard for you to understand why we are like that. I wasn't always like this you know; a long time ago I had other plans for myself. Over time though, sometimes you take the road that you're meant to take whether you want to or not. Lance has had a hard childhood and he just wants to make sure that you don't have the same, and, well, I agree with him to a point. I'm not telling you to pick us or not to pick us, but, I just want you to know that I will try harder to make him understand being a 16 year old girl isn't as black and white as he thinks. Okay? For what it's worth Temperance, I care a great deal for you and I know that Lance does too, in his way." She smoothed Tempe's hair back from her face and smiled at her after parking the car at the courthouse. Tempe didn't know what to say Rebecca wasn't always so verbal, although she'd shown signs throughout their time together of disagreeing with Lance; she'd never really acted on them. Temperance was touched, "Thank you Rebecca. I appreciate you telling me that." She smiled back at her and the two of them got out of the car and walked to the courthouse.

It was warmer than it had been the past couple of days and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, as they walked across the parking lot, Temperance took a deep breath as they entered the courthouse, the two of them walked to the bank of elevators and got on, pressing the button for the 7th floor, Temperance was surprised to see the back of the elevators were glass and looked out onto the parking lot. The cars parked out there looked like jewels strewn about as if by the hand of a giant. The elevators were old and slow and Temperance had plenty of time to find Rebecca's car. She also saw a silver car that was parked off to the side of the lot, alone, it seemed familiar. She stared at it trying to figure out where she'd seen it before. Obviously expensive, it wasn't something she was likely to just have seen anywhere. The elevator chimed and she turned away from the window as they all exited. Signing in at the secretary's desk, Temperance wasn't surprised to see Lance and his personal lawyer already there. She smiled at him and hugged Lance with one arm, before sitting down and picking up a magazine. She had no intention of reading it; she just didn't know what one was supposed to do before her future was most likely to be decided by a total stranger. Rebecca and Lance and their attorney sat huddled together, quietly chatting, Temperance, separated by a couple of chairs, was content to just look around at the surroundings. There were pictures of happy families enjoying each other and a bookcase of brochures touting all the services that CPS offered. Sighing, she opened the magazine after all, and looked at the pages, not focused on anything, she wondered for the millionth time what was going to happen in the judge's chambers.

Carefully reaching for the ring around her neck, she closed her eyes and wished for strength. As long as I'm wishing she thought, I wish Angela and Seeley and Max and all my other friends could be here with me. "Temperance Brennan?" The secretary said her name over her desk; "Judge Scallion will see you now" she indicated the door to his office, and Tempe stood and took a deep breath as she walked over to the heavy mahogany door. Pushing it open, she was surprised to see a young man in there, well younger than she expected a judge to look like. She stood hesitantly in the door and he said, "Come on in Miss Brennan, I don't bite and this will be very easy." She shut the door behind her and sat in the chair across from him and wondered what the future would hold.

CHAPTER 73B (I am not a judge, have never been a judge and never wanted to be a judge so some of this next part I've taken liberties with...MK)

Behind the large, dark wood desk sat a dark haired man, early 50's, he was clean shaven and had slightly graying temples. His nose had clearly been broken more than once in his youth. If the plaques and awards were any indication, he was once a boxer. Temperance looked around the room, impressed, he was a family man, standing next to a beautiful woman in a polka dot dress; she was trim and was holding a baby on her hip, as was he. She saw many pictures of the four of them scattered about the office, the twins appeared to be in their early 20's as of the last pictures she saw. Both wearing college football uniforms, although she was unable to discern which team. He'd asked her a question and she jerked herself back out of her observations, "Oh, I'm sorry, I missed that? I was looking at your photographs, you have a lovely family." She looked back into his eyes and saw the warmth and friendliness that was so often missing from older males in her acquaintance. Except for Max, his eyes were always smiling.

"Thank you, my wife and I are very proud of Mathew and Ryan. I asked if you would like something to drink. I have juice, soda, water?" his mouth twitched, she was a cute kid, and although he could tell she was slightly uncomfortable and unsure, she was making an effort. "Water would be nice, thank you." She answered, standing to take the offered drink.

"Well, let's get down to business shall we? I'm going to ask you some questions about your current foster situation, some questions about what you would like and what your goals are in your own life and then we'll just talk a bit, is that okay? There isn't a time table or anything, my afternoon is clear, so please, ask me any questions that you may have, this is after all a very important decision we'll be making, one that will greatly affect you both now and in the future with your own family." He sat back and steepled his fingers over his chest, the chair slightly reclining. Temperance listened to what he said and then she asked, "So I can ask you questions and you will answer them truthfully?"

"Honey, I'm a judge, I'm pretty sure I have to answer them truthfully." He winked and smiled at her. Blushing slightly, she nodded back and sat back into her own chair, "Okay, I'm ready."

"My first question to you is did you know the Sweets had petitioned to adopt you?"

"Yes, they told me about it early this week, I didn't realize that it would be processed so fast actually. I mean, it's only Thursday and I'm at the courthouse already. I thought this kind of thing took months." She shifted slightly in her seat.

"They petitioned the court about 4 months ago, normally it does take some time, years in some cases, but their lawyers asked if we could 'fast track' this, as they were abnormally concerned for your well being and emotional stability" he told her, pulling the file into his lap. "They felt you were being unduly pressured at school from a number of sources and wanted to be able to make some decisions for you that currently reside with the state."

"Really? I don't know what pressures they would be referring to. Up until recently I didn't have any friends, and all I did was go to school, go to the museum and then go home."

Part of being a judge was being able to remove the judicial hat and put on the psychoanalysis hat at times, and Judge Scallion knew exactly when to put that hat on, "What do you mean until recently?"

"I'm not sure you want me to bore you with teenage angst and drama Sir," she told him.

"Try me Temperance, you might be surprised."

"Okay" and Temperance began to tell him everything. From her first day at St. Agnes high school, her first encounter with Payton Perotta, her first day at the museum, her first meeting of her best friend Angela Montenegro. She shared how important Angela and Max had become to her, how much she needed them in her life, they were her stability. She told him about this early fall, meeting Seeley, the pictures, the removal of the museum from her life and she told him about meeting Alana and her friends and how that had helped some, but she yearned for her life that was. She told him about the things the Sweets had taken from her and how Max had pulled some strings to get her back the museum, she knew she wasn't smart enough or even old enough to be a student intern. She missed Angela, Max and Seeley. Seeley, she missed the most. He made her feel like she was somebody and could be somebody. An hour later, she finally stopped speaking and blushed furiously, "I'm sorry, that was probably more than you wanted to know, huh?" she said.

"Actually no, I found what you were telling me to be very insightful. Why is it do you think that you hide your personal things from the Sweets? The pig, the dolphin charm, what made you keep the headphones a secret from them?"

"Because they had already told me that they didn't want me to become attached to material possessions because they were fleeting and had no meaning. They bought me new clothes, well new thrift clothes, which I don't mind, because they didn't want me to have something from another home. My jacket that was the first thing I fought them on. It was Andy's and I'm not giving it up. I knew that Rebecca went through my room and looked for stuff; I could tell when things had been moved. It really didn't bother me, I'm sure I'd probably do the same if there was a stranger in my home."

"A stranger, why would you think you were a stranger in their home?" he asked, picking up on that one phrase.

"Because, they've never asked me about my real parents, my real family, they never asked why I was in the foster system, I assumed they knew they would've had to from my case worker, but they never asked me." She finished her water and looked for a trash can. He rose and took the empty container and placed it in a recycling bin beside the desk. She was impressed, she liked that he was conscious of the environment. "I always feel like a guest. I've been told not to leave my things lying about, and my room is always tidy, but I don't have any things. I had a radio, but they took that away when Payton sent them the pictures of me and Seeley." She shrugged her shoulders and took her jacket off, setting it primly across her legs as he absorbed what she'd told him.

"What is it about the museum that you like so much?"

Tempe's eyes lit up and her face became animated as she spoke, "Oh everything, I love being there because it's so rich with information and stories of our past. It's fascinating, there is always something new to learn there. Of course, I also love it because of Max and Angela. They're like the family I've always wished for, aside from my own obviously. Max makes me feel safe, he looks out for me when I'm there, makes sure I'm being fed, he's always offering me snacks and invites me down to his office to watch TV and stuff. He makes me laugh too; he's just a really nice guy. Angela, she's my best friend. She's my mom, my sister as well as being my friend. Nothing is ever too much for her, she lets me vent and lets me cry on her shoulder and she never asks anything in return. I've learned so much from her, things that a mom would teach a daughter. It kills me that I can't call her when I need her. This is why I'm grateful that Max got me back to the museum, now I can see her and I don't have to sneak around to do it either."

"Why would you have to sneak?" he asked, concerned at that turn of phrase.

"Because when I first started at the museum and told the Sweets about her, they told me she was a bad influence and that I was not to associate with her. I questioned them several times and when they told me if I didn't stop asking they'd remove me from the museum, I stopped asking. Since then, anytime I need to talk to her, I've used the radio code we came up with or I called her from school. She bought me a cell phone, but when the pictures showed up, they broke that." Temperance was very matter of fact, she wasn't embellishing anything, and she was just answering the questions he was asking.

"Do you feel like she's a bad influence on you? Have you done anything questionable in her company?"

Snorting slightly she smiled and said, "No, the most questionable thing we've done is fake that I had a meeting at the museum so I could see my boyfriends football game and fake a shift at work to go shopping for a dance I'm not going to, oh, we were in a minor car accident too, but that wasn't her fault, something happened to the truck. So, is she a bad influence? I don't think so."

He seemed satisfied by that answer and then asked, "If you could pick the parents you get adopted by, what attributes would you look for?"

It was a loaded question; Temperance recognized that, she was also aware that the answer could be the deciding factor. She wasn't going to lie, she knew that wasn't the answer, but she wanted to be careful in her response. She took a couple of minutes and looked down into her hands, thinking about everything that had happened in her life through today, she looked up and said, "If I could choose my parents, I would ask for parents that had compassion and empathy, that knew how difficult it is to be a teenager first off, and who also knew what it was like to feel like you've been abandoned for no reason. I would ask that they give me the opportunity to be my own person, to learn and grow at my own pace, to let me experience life and not keep me sheltered from it. I would want them to be interested in me as a person, not just as a sociological experiment. I would want to do things with them as a family, go places, and see things together. I would ask them to have discipline, there should be structure and I would recognize their experiences as a great tool for me to learn from. I would ask that they be interested in my future, and would take the necessary steps to help me achieve my goal, not necessarily financial, I'm not looking to be a rich kid, just help me achieve my goals through positive reinforcement and encouragement. I don't want them to let me run wild, but let me be me within normal and accepted social guidelines. I'd like a dog. A real one. I'm not sure if that is what you were asking?" she wrinkled her brow and cocked her head; she really wasn't sure how things were going. His face gave little away.

"I think you answered that very well Temperance. It seems you have a very great idea of the type of parents you would like to have. What of siblings? Would you mind having siblings?"

"No, I would like that, I'm alone a lot and I enjoy being alone, but sometimes there is a thin line between lonely and alone. I've realized that now that I have friends at school. Times that I thought I was happy being alone, I've now discovered I was actually lonely. Now though, I have Alana, Kersten, Sammy and the guys. The guys are all graduating, but I still have the other girls. But, having a brother or sister would be even better."

"Do you think the Sweets would make good parents for you?" this was the big question; he was truly interested in her answer to this.

Again, slow to answer she wanted to be sure of her response. The Sweets weren't bad people, they weren't bad parents either, she just didn't think they were 'parental' types. "I'm not sure if I'm going to answer this the way you want me to." She ended up saying.

"There is no right or wrong answer Temperance, just tell me what you think the answer to that question is."

"For me? No, I think that they take me for granted. I'm not included in any decision making, I'm not included where their family is concerned. Lance makes it a point to let me know on a regular basis how lucky I am that he and Rebecca were there when I needed a home. He is very intelligent and very proud of that. I don't think that he sees me as a person; I think he sees me as a way to conform to the social norm. He has his career, his wife, his home and now he has a child. That's not necessarily wrong, but I don't like that kind of thinking. Rebecca has tried a couple of times to intercede on my behalf, she's tried to make him see things from a different perspective, and she's even told me, just today in fact that she doesn't always agree with him. But, she's also pretty ingrained to his doctrine, so she's not really going to change anything. The status quo is set and it's not going to be tampered with. So, I guess to answer your question, no, I don't think they are the right parents for me, as to what I would want parents to be like. However, I've lived with them for the past year and a half and I only have two more years to go before I'm a legal adult, so I'm okay with staying with them."

Nodding at her answer, Judge Scallion leaned back into his chair. He watched her and wanted to see if she was going to say anything else. He was met only with her clear blue gaze. He leafed through her file again briefly and then asked if she had any other questions.

"Yes, one, who is the other family?" she'd clearly been wanting to ask it the entire time they were there.

"I'm sorry Temperance, I can't tell you that. The reason I can't tell you is because if I decide against them, it would breach the privacy clause that private adoptions are centered on. Does that make sense?"

She had been prepared to rebut his answer and question him further, but his answer actually made pretty good sense. "I understand, so are we done here? Did I do okay?' she asked.

"You did fine Temperance, yes; your part of this is done. Now, I will meet again with both the Sweets and the other petitioners, and barring anything out of the ordinary, we should have a response for everyone by tomorrow afternoon. Would that be okay?" he was really concerned with how well she would handle this, she seemed like such a fragile child, but he caught glimpses here and there of her steely resolve.

"Yes, I'd just like to know, I think that's the worst part, the not knowing, it makes me feel like I did when my own parents left. Thank you for talking to me Judge Scallion; I appreciate you letting me be a part of the decision." She stood to shake his hand, and he was taken aback by her candor. "Why, you're welcome Temperance, I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to be honest with me. Don't worry, I'm taking a very personal interest in this case and I hope that you will be pleased with my decision."

"Oh, I trust you, after all you are a judge right?" she smiled and winked at him as he escorted her to the door. Grinning at her he told her to have a good evening and reminded her that this was a private interview and she did not have to discuss anything with anyone. Knowing instantly what he was referring to, she nodded her thanks and left the room.

Lance and Rebecca stood as she exited the room, their attorney had long since left. As they were leaving, she heard Judge Scallion ask his secretary to get legal counsel for the other petitioners on the phone. The three of them left and she looked to see that it was almost 2 o'clock and there would be no point in going back to school. Lance offered to take them to lunch somewhere before taking her to the museum, and she and Rebecca both admitted they were hungry. Driving around, he stopped at a local café and the three of them entered, as normal as a family as they could be.

CHAPTER 73C

Lance tried throughout the meal to get Temperance to talk to them about what the judge had asked about. She kept her answers pretty general, and just told him that the judge asked her what she wanted, what she liked and disliked and they just had a banal conversation mostly. She told him that he asked about her social life, the museum and Angela and Max. Once Lance figured out that she wasn't going to give him specifics, he turned to Rebecca and she was once again left alone with her thoughts.

She thought that she would've dwelled on the conversation with the judge, wondered about the petitioners, but her thoughts were actually centered on Angela and Seeley. She knew that in 6 and a half months Seeley would be out of her daily life. He would be graduated, and then joining the army. She didn't know how she felt about that. On the one hand, she knew that it was what he wanted to do. He wanted the opportunity to serve a higher purpose, but on the other hand, he'd be gone from her life essentially for good. She knew that they'd write at first, but how much could he write while in a war? She pushed her fries around her plate and thought of Angela. She'd been talking about going to school herself, trouble was, she would be going to an elite art school in France. She wasn't going to go until Temperance graduated, because she knew how much it meant to her to have her around, but she'd been getting restless. Tempe could see that, and she didn't want her friend to lose sight of her own life just because of hers. She knew that if she stayed with the Sweets that it may be a few years before she and Angela would be able to hang out like they wished that they could. But, she'd rather face two years of the Sweets before she'd let Angela or Seeley give up their own dreams.

Pushing away from the table, she excused herself to go to the ladies room. When she came back, Lance and Rebecca stood and they left to pay the bill. She started to go to the parking lot, when her eye was drawn to a flyer tacked up on the wall of the small café. It was an advertisement for local artists to exhibit their works at the library. She grabbed one of the flyers to give to Angela, when she realized that the drawing pictured on the front was one of Angela's. She was surprised, Angela had shown her some sketches and some ink drawings but she hadn't seen anything like this. Determined more now than ever that Angela wasn't going to hold anything back because of her, she tucked the flyer into her pocket, determined to talk to her about going to France, and soon.

Lance and Rebecca dropped Tempe off at the museum and she went straight to Max's classroom. She was a little late and hoped that she wouldn't be too far behind when she got there. Much to her surprise, the room was completely dark and the students were huddled around a table that Max had set up with an experiment. They were taking notes and listening with rapt attention as he explained what they were seeing. She grabbed a note book from the box that she and Zack shared and snuck up behind him. Whispering she said, "What are we doing?" Zack startled at her voice, turned and put his finger on his lips, gesturing to the table she attempted to look around him, when he lifted his arm and let her sneak in front of him. On the table was a box of what looked like ordinary rocks. Every now and again however, the rocks would appear to glow and then dim. Watching closer, that every time Max shined a light on them, they would refract into a million different hues and then were absorbing that light from another rock. They would appear to glow and then the glowing would dim and he would 'reenergize' them.

After she'd been there for about 20 minutes Max turned the light on and asked them to pair up and gives their ideas and hypothesis to each other. While she and Zack were talking, Angela came in and pulled him aside. She whispered into his ear and then he hugged her and smiled, she caught Tempe's eye and waved before pointing to her watch and exiting the classroom. Wondering what they were up to Tempe looked at Max who was smiling at her. He winked and headed to his desk where he worked on some papers of his own until there was just a half hour of class left. Asking the students to turn in their papers, he told them he'd see them on Saturday at 10, where they would go over the papers and they would conclude the experiment. The students gathered up their things and laughing and chattering, they left the room. Zack and Tempe were the only two left in the classroom and were sitting on a long, low table by the window, when Max came over and gave her an unsolicited hug and told them to behave themselves as he left the class. "I wonder what that was all about?" she asked Zack.

"I don't know" he said, "I had no intention of not behaving myself to be honest." He smiled at her and she smiled back. "How was your meeting today?" he asked shyly, "Angela told Max that you were meeting with the CPS judge, and I overheard it. Did he say how long it would take for your adoption to go through?" Zack was twisting a piece of string around his finger while he asked. She didn't think that she had ever seen him so uncomfortable and putting her hand on his arm, she said, "What's a matter Zack?"

"Nothing-why?" he said.

"Because you seem nervous or upset, what's going on?"

Sighing and seeing that there was no way out of it, he said, "I just heard Angela tell Max that if you got adopted by the Sweets that you wouldn't be here anymore, and…well…that just sucks." He stopped. Zack didn't want to tell her that for all his noble, 'I'm just your friend' speeches, he was falling for her and hard. He really did want to be her friend, and he didn't want to mess anything up with her and Seeley, ultimately he wanted her to be happy. But if she wasn't at the museum anymore, he wouldn't have an excuse to see her, and he found that he really needed to see her. She made him happy, happier than any other girl he'd ever been with had. If friends were all they could be, he'd take it.

Deciding that Zack would tell her whatever it was when he was ready, she answered his first question, "It went well I think, he asked me what I wanted, whether I thought the Sweets could provide that, and why. It was a pretty straight up conversation really. I did most of the talking, which was weird, I expected more from him. He said that he would let us all know tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Isn't that a little sudden?"

"I thought so too, but he said that it was really dependent on his interview with me who was chosen. I'm a little scared to be honest" her voice hitched and Zack looked up to see that her eyes were brimming with tears and her bottom lip was trembling.

"Oh hey, don't cry Tempe" he said, scooting closer to her and putting his arm around her. "It's okay, you'll be okay." He laid his cheek on the top of her head and held her as she cried. Tempe cried like she hadn't cried in years, all the old hurts, sorrows, the pent up anger and confusion came pouring out of her. Zack held her and murmured soothing words to her and let her cry. Coming down the hall, Seeley heard her crying and hurried to the door of the class, but paused when he saw her in Zack's arms. Instantly angry, he started to enter the room when he listened to what she was saying between sobs.

"I…don't know what I'm…going to do…I don't want to lose Angela or Seeley or you or Max…I love it here and what if I stay with the Sweets, they've already told me I'd be pulled from here, but to not know…I love him Zack, and I love Angela and you and Max, you're my family…what will happen?" She was starting to calm down and Zack said, "Shhhh, Temperance, it's okay…we're all still going to be here for you, Seeley, Ange, me and Max all of us, we are your family, it's okay…shhhh….no matter who adopts you, we'll figure out a way to see you" he held her face in his hands and thumbed the tears from her face, "No one will keep us apart, I promise, we'll all make it happen, okay?" he pulled her back into his chest and she wrapped her arms around his waist.

The scene was tearing Seeley up, but rather than just barging in fists swinging, he realized what she was really saying, and he felt like crying himself. He leaned against the wall and slid down until he was sitting down against the wall, his legs out in front of him. Angela came down the hall and sat beside him, leaning against him she whispered, "What's a matter Big Man?" Seeley leaned his head back and quietly told her what he'd heard Tempe tell Zack and how it was all just hitting him too. Tomorrow would be a whole new ballgame and he didn't know where any of them would fall on the field. Angela laced her fingers into his and put her head on his shoulder. "No matter what happens, we'll all still be there for her, you, me, Zack and Max. We'll figure out a way to make it work. Trust me. If she stays with the Sweets, then we'll just sneak her out of the bedroom window a little more often." Raising his head and looking at her, she winked and said, "I know all about it Seeley "Indiana Jones" Booth." He smiled and looked at their entwined hands. "You're a good friend to her, you know that?" he said, bringing her hand up and kissing her fingers.

"She's my best friend, she's the sister I never had, and I'd do anything for her." She said simply, "Which is why, I'm going to go interrupt her and Zack's confessional time and let you have a few minutes with her" she squeezed his fingers and stood up and walked into the classroom. "Okay, this isn't true confessions, knock it off you two. Zack, come on, let her have a minute or two with Seeley, and you and I can go raid the employee's room for cast away soda's or something." Looking up at her, Zack smiled and asked Tempe if she was going to be okay, she nodded yes, so he put his arm out for Angela and the two of them left the room. As they passed Seeley out in the hall, Seeley stopped them and looked Zack in the eye, sticking out his hand he said, "Thanks man, I owe you one" hesitating, Zack looked at his hand and then taking it in his, he shook it and said, "you know what to do man." And the two of them continued on down the hall.

Looking up at him as he entered the classroom, Temperance was awash with feeling. She truly did love him, and she didn't want to dwell on the idea that their time was limited, both by current circumstances and where their lives were taking them. "How come I'm either crying or yelling at you?" she asked smiling, wiping her eyes. "I don't know little one, I've wondered about that myself" he said quietly as he sat down next to her. "I heard what you told Zack, and he's right, we are your family, all of us, we'll get through this Tempe, all of us together. There's more than one kind of family you know." He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. "I've been thinking and no matter which way it goes tomorrow, I'm not going to go into the Army after all. I'm going to accept that scholarship to the U after all."

Temperance pulled away from him and wordless stood and walked over to Max's desk and got a tissue. Wiping her eyes and her nose, she threw it away before turning to speak to him. "No you aren't Seeley. You're going to join the Army, it's what you want. It's what you should do. Don't you dare put your future on hold for me, that's ridiculous and I won't let you do that." She walked back over to him and stood in front of him, reaching for his hands, she stared at them in hers and said, "I can't let you or Angela put your lives on hold for me, I'm not worth that much sacrifice, and you two have already risked so much for me. I'm not going to let you do that." She said defiantly looking him in the eye.

"It's not your decision Temperance, it's ours, if I choose to stay, if Angela chooses to stay, that's our choice, not yours." He shook his head and squeezed her hands, "I know that I want to stay, I need to stay."

Raising her chin and looking at his face Tempe smiled sadly and said, "Seeley, it's not your choice. Regardless of what happens tomorrow, whether I go to perfect strangers or stay with the Sweets, you will do what you are meant to do, as will Angela, because, you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because, I'll make it a condition of our 'family' if I have to. I know it's dirty and underhanded and blackmail, but I refuse to let you throw away your lives for me."

Stepping into his arms, she said, "I don't want to talk about it anymore, we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, so let's whatever is going to happen, happen, just hold me, okay?"

Obliging her, Seeley pulled her closer against his body and held her tight. Both of them were trying to think of anything but the next day and what it would bring.

Later that evening…

Angela was sitting on a sofa in her part of the house she shared with her dad, Grayson and various staff members. Barefoot, wrapped in a blanket, she was watching the flames dance in the fireplace and was thinking of the next day as well. She had made some arrangements to help Fischer and Wendell with their little escapade and wondered if she was any better than Payton for doing it. She'd filed the paperwork at the courthouse that afternoon to have her arrested for stalking, and defamation of character. She wasn't sure she really wanted to go all the way through with it; she did want to scare her though. She hated girls like Payton. Ever since she'd been a young girl, her life was so very different from everyone else's, and girls like that had made it worse for her too. When she was old enough, her dad had told her the truth about her own life. She'd been so young, a baby really when he'd found her. She'd never known her mom, had never even seen her, a picture nothing. All she had was her dad and she couldn't imagine the feelings that Temperance was experiencing. Sighing she turned her head, and wiped a tear from her eye. His warm, accented voice drifted to her and she turned her head to look at him, he was as important to her as her dad, the next best thing really. "Miss Angela, its okay to be worried for her, its okay to care. The best things will happen, you must believe that. The universe is vast, but just. I trust that, I believe that."

"Thank you Grayson. I just hope that the right decision is made. I can't stand the thought of her being with the Sweets, but what if the other family isn't any better? She's been through so much already, it kills me that I can't make it go away." She lifted her head and made his shape out in the shadows; he walked towards her and sat on the other edge of the couch by her feet. "You have done everything you can for her; the decision will be what it is. There is nothing anyone can do to change it. All we can do is accept it, good, bad or otherwise. If she should stay where she is, at least that is a known variable; we know how to work around it. If it goes the other way, then we'll learn what we need to. There is no reason to worry; the decision is not in our hands. Do you understand?" he asked, as always, his voice so smooth and cultured.

"I do, it doesn't mean I like it any better, but I understand Grayson. Thank you. Are you going now?"

"Yes, it is time I return to my own quarters, your dad is in the studio; perhaps you should go see him."

"I will, thank you again Grayson" she smiled at him and stood to go see her dad.

"Anytime my Angel, anytime" he pulled her in for a hug and kissed her on the top of the head.

Angela watched him leave the room and felt her phone vibrate in her pocket; looking down she saw it was a text message from Wendell, she smiled as she read it. "Hey Angel-can't get out of dinner w/the fam, can't wait til Sat, sweet dreams." Thinking to herself, maybe the universe knows what it is doing after all she quickly texted back, "me either-see you Sat, will call tomorrow about Temper~ANGEL~"

Angela headed downstairs to the studio her dad spent most of his home time in and paused to look at the pictures on the wall leading there. They were all pictures of him and her with various celebrities, bands, and politicians throughout the years. In the earlier pictures she was 2, maybe slightly younger. She smiled at one in particular. She was sitting in a big leather chair, her dad and Mick were sitting on either sides of a desk, papers covered in lyrics and musical notes spread out between the two of them. Keith, Brian, Bill and Charlie were sitting in chairs or lounging against the desk as well. She was holding a Grammy in one hand and a lollipop in the other; she couldn't have been more than 4. Her hands must have been sticky she thought, and none of them cared. Her dad was smiling at her, her eyes closed, completely relaxed surrounded by one of the most recognized bands in the world, and she didn't even know it. She continued into the studio and listened as her dad picked one of his favorite songs and surprisingly not one of his own out on an old Gibson guitar. She sat on the chair and just watched him, and thought how lucky she was that he'd come to get her, and how out of the hundreds of kids he could have adopted, he picked her.


	5. Chapter 74

CHAPTER 74

****okay, I took a WHOLE lot of liberties with this chapter; I hope that it comes across as sincere as I had hoped it to. Please be kind...if you can't be kind...be honest...MK****

No one slept well the night before; consequently there were cranky people everywhere. Lance yelled at Temperance for 'hurtling' down the stairs, Rebecca yelled at Lance for yelling at Tempe, Jared had to wake Seeley up as his alarm wasn't set, so he was late for school. Seeley yelled at Jared for waking him up late and Pops yelled at Seeley for yelling at Jared. Wendell yelled at Fischer for not picking him up for school and making him ride the bus, and Fischer yelled at Cordie for making him have to go back to the house 3 times to get things that she had forgotten. Angela's house was no better. Her dad scolded her for sleeping in the studio, which she directed right back as he had done the same. By the time Tempe got to school, she didn't have time to get her books from her locker, so was late to class, which got her scolded by the teacher. Needless to say, it was not shaping up to be a good day.

Temperance sat at her desk, head in hand, staring out the windows, her book unopened in front of her. Counting the hours until her fate was known. She wasn't listening to the teacher or the questions being asked by anyone in the classroom and it showed. This particular teacher wasn't going to let it slide. He walked over to her desk and dropped a large book on the desktop, startled Temperance looked up and said, "What?" Normally polite to a fault with her teachers, her brusqueness was disturbing to him. "Excuse me Miss Brennan, I'm sorry to have interrupted you, I simply was trying to include you in the class discussion, my apologies" he was deliberately snide to her. "I'm sorry Sir that was rude, what were you asking me?" she looked up, her face slightly flushed from the stares of the other students. "Apology accepted Miss Brennan; I asked you if you knew why the author was trying to persuade the reader to accept the reasoning behind the erroneous explanation he gave."

"I'm not sure the author was forcing anyone to accept his explanation, he simply gave the reader the ability to accept it or make their own assumptions, so no I don't know why he would try to persuade someone to think something else" She told him, completely serious. She hadn't read the text he was talking about and hoped to make that less obvious. Apparently it worked because the teacher thanked her for her answer and moved to the next student. Her next class was a little harder to ignore, so although her mind was split, she focused and was able to make it through to lunch.

Seeley met her at her locker along with Wendell, Fischer, Alana, Kersten and Sammy. "So did you hear anything?" Sammy asked when she was close enough. "I don't think they wrote her a memo and delivered it during class dummy:" Kersten told her friend, turning to Tempe. "I won't find out anything until 5 at the earliest, at least that's what Rebecca and Lance said. I'm supposed to go to the courthouse with them at 5 and that's when we will all know, so for now, I'm just waiting." Seeley enveloped her in a hug and told her that they were all just concerned. Caroline walked by with Daisy; they were on their way to lunch and said loudly, "look, the loser's club is having a meeting." Not to be outdone, Fischer walked away from the group slightly and said, "Wendell, what time are you picking up Angela for the dance and is she really wearing that dress? You know the one that was in the magazine…what's it called? Oh yeah, Vogue"

"Yeah, she gets that stuff for free, you know, because she's hot and famous, aren't you going with…" and Wendell trailed off as Daisy slowed slightly, she turned to the group and Fischer got down on one knee in front of Alana, took her hand and said, "Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I never saw true beauty till this night whilst thou accompany me to the dance?" Alana blushed scarlet and put her other hand on her face; Daisy turned around in disgust and hurried to catch up with Caroline who was waiting at the end of the hall. They all burst into laughter and Seeley clapped Fischer on the shoulder. He was still kneeling and nodding to Alana, said, "Well, will ya?"

Alana looked to her friends who were all nodding encouragement and said, "Yes, but don't do that again please, that was embarrassing."

"Better get used to that" Wendell said smirking, his phone rang and he excused himself slightly from the group, as they all settled down to eat their lunches in the hall. Temperance was sitting in the vee of Seeley's lap and leaned back into him.

Wendell talking to Angela said, "I don't know if he's going, he said he wasn't. Fischer and Alana are, even if he doesn't go."

"Wendell, I don't care if you bag, gag and drag him there, get him to the dance! Are you guys ready to go with your part of it?" Angela asked.

"Yeah, we talked to the theater people, they'll have everything in place, did you make your calls?"

"I had to pull some strings, but they'll be there. Just make sure I can get on stage, and I don't care what you have to do, make sure he goes!" She hung up and promised to call Wendell that evening. He came back to the group and quietly told Fischer that they were to 'bag, gag and drag' Seeley to the dance, apparently Angela had something up her sleeve. He nodded that he'd help get him there and then went back to talking to Alana. Temperance looked around the little group and marveled at how just a month ago she didn't have anyone in her life but Angela, and now she had all these people. She felt really good, and even better being in Seeley's arms.

All too soon lunch was over and everyone headed to their respective classes, Seeley lingered, knowing he would be late, but it was gym, so he didn't care. "Will you call me tonight? When you know?" he watched her put her things in the locker, then move them around and put them back. She was stalling, and he knew it. "I'll try, if it's the Sweets, probably not. Since I don't know who the other people are, I have no way of knowing if they will let me or not. I'll do my best, okay?" She looked dejected, this was really wearing on her, and he'd noticed she hadn't eaten any of her lunch, just opened everything up and then threw it all away when they started to gather things up. "It'll be okay, whoever it is Bone Lady, we'll be okay." He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. The late bell rang and she reluctantly closed her locker and kissing his cheek, smiled back at him and then walked alone to class. Alana had already gone ahead, and was waiting for her in their regular seats. She was excited about Fischer asking her to the dance, even though she knew it was going to happen, she was still excited and wanted to discuss every tiny detail with Temperance. It was the next day, so she was going to be scrambling to find a dress. Temperance offered her the dress that she had, but they both decided that she didn't have the body to pull it off; she told her that she would go straight away after school to find something.

Although Temperance was excited for her friend, she was still thinking of her own situation. She wondered if last night was her last night in Max's class, or would she be going on Saturday too. She was half listening to Alana and half lost in her own thoughts when the teacher told them to get with their partners and work on their project. Looking around, Temperance noted that Payton wasn't there. Raising her hand, she said, "My partner isn't here, should I just do what I can?" the teacher nodded that that would be okay, so rather than move to an empty table, Temperance just stayed where she was and did what she could with her project. Glad that she would have the entire next week Payton free, before they had to hook back up and start the actual dissections. Getting lost in the worksheets, Temperance's stomach lurched when the bell rang; she looked around at everyone gathering up their things and envied them their regular lives.

She and Alana met Kersten and Sammy at their lockers, and she told them all that she hoped they would have fun at the dance, and to take lots of pictures. They promised they would and wished her luck, she then went to her own locker and opened it up to put her things away, before meeting Rebecca outside. She hugged Booth and put him down, and when she did, there was a small note tucked into the corner of the locker. Opening it up, it said,

"Ever is the love

Shining through your eyes so bright

I have to give you"

It was signed BMOC. She was touched, she didn't think that he was the poem writing type, and given the amount of eraser marks on it, he'd worked hard. She thought it was a haiku, but wasn't sure of the exact syllable requirements. Wondering if he knew that or not, she tucked it into her pocket and closed her locker door. Hurrying outside, she didn't have to wait long, Rebecca pulled up promptly and she got in.

Rebecca was tense, she didn't know what to say, they were meeting Lance at the courthouse, and had about 2 hours to kill. She didn't want to go to the house, but couldn't think of anything else to do. She glanced over at Tempe, who was also tense and staring out the window. "So, what do you want to do for the next couple of hours?" she asked her.

Not answering her, but asking a question of her own Tempe said, "If we go to the courthouse and I have to go to the other people's home tonight, how will I get my things from your house?" she was really concerned. Not so much that she wouldn't get the school uniforms, but that she may have hidden something and since forgotten that she'd hid it. "Well, I'm sure if that is the case then you will just come to the house and get your things, I can't imagine that they will just make you leave everything behind." She didn't know either, should they go home and pack in case that was what happened? "Do you want to go pack just in case?" she asked Temperance.

"No, I was just wondering. I don't know what to do really. It seems like time always slows when you are waiting for something."

"Are you hungry? We could go get something to eat?"

"I'm not really hungry, thank you. If you are though?"

"No, I haven't been able to eat in a couple of days to be honest."

Temperance looked over at her and realized that this must be just as hard on them as it was on her. "I'm sorry for all of this Rebecca, it can't be easy."

"You had no way of knowing Temperance; it's not your fault and considering it's the rest of our lives were talking about, we're all entitled to be a little emotional right now." Rebecca continued driving aimlessly until they were close to the museum, "Do you want to go in there? You could show me around?" she suggested half heartedly, she'd never really liked museums, she found them to be over bearing and stuffy.

"I don't think either of us would enjoy that, do you?" Temperance looked at her, deciding to be honest. The museum was hers; she didn't want to share it with Rebecca.

"No, not really, so home it is I guess" Rebecca got into the correct lane to turn and headed down towards their home. Silently nodding Temperance leaned her head against the glass and willed time to speed up.

The two of them parted in the kitchen, Temperance heading upstairs to her room and Rebecca to her office. Looking around the room, Temperance looked in all of her usual hiding places and didn't find anything. She looked in the closet and wondered if she'd have to take her things in a garbage bag, like how she'd arrived. Shaking her head at her dismal thoughts, she flopped down on the bed and immediately fell into a light doze. Her body knew what she needed, even if her mind resisted.

Seemingly instantly after she lay down, she felt Rebecca's hand on her face, pushing her hair back and telling her quietly, "It's time to go Temperance."

She got up and after using the restroom, brushing her hair and wiping her face quickly, she and Rebecca got into the car and drove to the courthouse. The stop lights were against them from the beginning, they managed to hit every red light in town it seemed. Eventually, they pulled into the parking lot and were able to park next to Lance's car. The three of them entered the building, almost completely empty the day before a holiday week. The elevator trundled to the 7th floor and they went straight to Judge Scallion's office. There was a woman sitting in the waiting room, tall, slightly heavy but with a pretty face and long brown hair, she was dressed in a nice business suit and was talking to a skinny, dark haired man with a pock marked face. Wondering if these were the other petitioners, Temperance took a chair and timidly looked around. When they entered, the woman gave her a small smile and turned back to her conversation.

The Sweets and Temperance looked like they had never met; being in the same room they were still a thousand miles apart. Judge Scallion and his assistant came into the room and asked everyone to join him in his office. The five of them stood and followed him in there, where his assistant offered them all something to drink. Declining, because she wasn't sure if she could keep it down or not, Temperance sat down. Her hands were shaking, her body tense and her mind reeling. These people couldn't be her new parents; they didn't even look like they belonged together, let alone with a child.

Judge Scallion sat behind his desk and put his hands together briefly before leaning back in his chair, he spoke, "I'm sure that everyone has been on pins and needles for the last couple of days, and I apologize for that, however, it was necessary for me to make sure the right decision was being made for not only Miss Brennan, but her parents as well. I've done a lot of soul searching of my own this week, as well as heard a lot of testimony from both sides. I want you all to know that this decision was not made lightly in any way shape or form, and I also would request that we all behave in as a non emotional manner as we can when I tell you what I've decided. Now, please also keep in mind that my decision was not wholly mine; I also had to accept recommendations from the state of Pennsylvania, the petitioning parents and Miss Brennan herself. In this case, we've also spoken to her student advisor, guidance counselor and taken into account what would be best for her. Now, let me introduce everyone and then we'll let you all know what is going to happen, Lance and Rebecca Sweets, are the current state appointed guardians" he pointed to them and they smiled and nodded, standing to move to shake the hands of the other people in the room, "This is Ms. Noonan and Mr. Epps, they are legal counsel for the other petitioner and the CPS representative assigned to Miss Brennan's case." The four of them shook hands and now Tempe recognized the man, he was the one that came to pick her up from the Hollings house.

"I'm sorry, but will the other petitioners be joining us?" Lance asked, looking intently around the room. "No, unfortunately they were not able to be here themselves, so they asked Ms. Noonan to be here in their stead." Judge Scallion told them.

After everyone had been seated again, he spoke, "Well, I won't prolong this any further, at this time it is the states and my opinion that Miss Temperance Brennan should be legally adopted by William Gibbons. Normally, single parent adoptions are not the way we would like to go, but based on testimony both for and against both petitioners; we feel that he will be the best choice for Miss Brennans' future."

Temperance didn't know she'd been holding her breath until she attempted to breathe when he was done. She looked at the Sweets, who looked both stricken and relieved by the news. She said, "I'm sorry, did you say William Gibbons?" she asked the judge.

"Yes, you will be going back to the Sweets' home this evening with Ms. Noonan to retrieve your personal items, and then Mr. Gibbons will meet you back here, in my office." He nodded to his assistant who brought over some paperwork and he said, "Mr. and Mrs. Sweets, I want you to know that the state of Pennsylvania truly appreciates what you have done for Miss Brennan since becoming her foster parents, and I want you to know that this in no way diminishes your ability to foster or adopt in the future." Lance looked at Rebecca and then the judge, standing he said, "Thank you your honor, we appreciate being able to stay in good standing with the state as well" he turned to Temperance and said, "Well Temperance, I'm sorry that you will not be accompanying us home this evening, I wish you luck" and he offered his hand to Rebecca, "Is that all you have to say?" she said to him, her voice breaking.

"Temperance, I'm sorry, I'm sorry it had to come down like this, I truly wanted you to come live with us for good, and I know we weren't perfect, but I had hoped we could work on that. Please, I would really like to know how you are doing, will you keep in touch?" She'd walked closer to her and was standing in front of her, a Kleenex pressed in her hand as tears gathered in her eyes. Temperance felt that she was torn in two directions, one, happy that she wouldn't be going home with the Sweets, but sad too at the effect it had had on Rebecca, she never realized she cared this much. She reached over and hugged her tight, "I will Rebecca, and thank you" The two of them stood hugging for a moment longer until Lance cleared his throat and they broke apart. Taking her husband's arm for support, they left the room and Temperance watched them leave. Her own eyes were tearing up and she reached to wipe them with her hand, Pam handed her a Kleenex and told her that it would all be okay. She nodded and smiled at her slightly when the judge caught her attention again. "I'm sorry Temperance, I wasn't completely honest with you earlier, but in deference to your new adoptive parent, I wanted to be as discreet as I could. If you'd wait here a moment, I'll have him come in, okay?" she could only nod, she had no idea what to do. Ms. Noonan and Mr. Epps left after signing some paperwork and then Temperance was alone in the room.

"Sweetie!" at the sound of Angela's voice, her head sharply turned, Angela rushed into the room, followed sedately by a slight man with a long beard and sunglasses. Behind him was the mountain of muscle Angela called her bodyguard, Grayson. Temperance jumped up and ran to her embrace, "What? You? How?" she didn't know what to say or even how to start. Angela said, "I couldn't say anything, even though I wanted to! I had to get you out of that house!" she turned to her dad and said, "This is my dad, Billy Gibbons, and now, he's your dad too!" Temperance stood stock still and tried to absorb it all.

He came over to her, removed his sunglasses and said in a rough Texas drawl, "Its okay honey, Angela gets excited about things a little more than the rest of us do. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, I feel as if I already know you from everything that Angela has told me, and I'm sure that you didn't know this, but I've been watching out for you for the last year or so and I'm glad now that you'll be a part of our home and hearts." He smiled and took her hand and kissed the back of it. "Now, I'll let you and Angela and Grayson go get your things, and I'll see you again at the house, we'll have a little story time and get to know one another okay?" she wasn't able to speak much beyond a quiet, "okay Sir."

Chuckling he said, "Honey, you don't have to call me Sir, call me Billy, hey you or whatever you like, someday, maybe Dad, but for now and evermore, never Sir." She blushed and nodded and repeated, "Okay…Billy." Then she was whisked away in tornado Angela, followed by Grayson on their way to get her things. He stayed behind to shake hands with the judge and sign some more paperwork and then putting his sunglasses back on, he left the room.


	6. Chapter 74A

*this one is going to be a POV chapter-remember it's still Friday evening…MK

Chapter 74A

****Tempe's Story****

When Tempe, Angela and Grayson got outside, Pam was just coming back to meet them to go with Temperance to the Sweets to get her things. They all piled into the Escalade, Angela and Tempe in the back was both so excited, they couldn't stop hugging. "Oh my God Temper! This is the best; I can't wait to tell EVERYONE! Do you want to call Seeley?" she handed her the phone and continued, "We have to get you a new phone now, and ALL new clothes, and we'll have to go shopping for your room and then we can get new furniture, and I can't wait to show you the car you'll be able to drive, once you get your license, it's soo cute, it's a VW Bug, and OH MY GOD!" she squealed and hugged Tempe again, "You're officially my sister!!!!"

Temperance sat silently listening to her friend; her mind was spinning out of control. This morning she was a foster child, living with two very strict and unyielding parents, and now she was the adopted daughter of a rock star and her best friend was now her sister, she had a driver and would have her own bathroom, cell phone and car. It was a little too much to take all at once and she didn't have a clue what to say. "Angela" his voice was like a dark chocolate bar set to music, "Let her absorb what has happened, you can get into all of that stuff later, for now, leave the poor child alone" Grayson smiled at her in the rearview mirror and winked at a grateful Temperance.

Slightly pouting, Angela crossed her arms over her chest and said, "I was just excited Grayson!" He chuckled slightly and nodded, "I know that, but let Miss Temperance take some time, you are a lot to take all at once, and usually her doses are much smaller" Pam laughed slightly and Tempe smiled. Leaning into Angela she said, "I'm so glad you're my sister, and I promise I want to know everything, but since I've only been your sister for about 20 minutes, I think we have time." She put her hand in hers and squeezed it. Angela leaned her head on hers and squeezed back. Temperance handed Angela the cell phone and said, "I'll call Seeley later, right now, let's just get through the Sweets and then we can start letting everyone know."

"Okay, Temper-we'll do it your way" she said. "Do you want me to go inside with you?" She asked as they pulled up outside the Sweets house. "Um no, that will just make it awkward, I can go by myself" she said, unbuckling her belt and opening the door. "Temperance, I'll accompany you inside," Pam said, taking her arm as they exited the car, "we'll be quick. Take only what is personally yours, things you brought to the foster system, like books or music cd's, leave all toiletries and those types of things, Angela is anxious to shop, so you can replace them all tomorrow or whenever, take your clothes, and anything, and I mean anything that you purchased yourself. I understand you wear uniforms to school; you can take those, even if the Sweets purchased them. Do you understand?" she looked at Temperance and smiled before they started up the walk, just before getting to the porch she said, "You are under no obligation to explain anything to either of them, you are simply here to collect your things, they are legally liable to give them to you, just so you are aware. I'll be there to make sure that there aren't any problems." She knocked on the door and they stepped back and waited for their knock to be answered.

****Seeley's story****

"Seeley? Hey-it's Pete Arno"

"Sweet Pete! What's up brother?" Seeley was peeling an orange, turning on the Xbox and trying to get out of his sweatshirt all at the same time he was talking on the phone. Jared was at Howards, probably killing bugs and Pops was playing cards with the guys at the VFW. Seeley was looking forward to a relaxing night of guitar hero and thinking of his girl. Not that that would be relaxing, but the game would make it more interesting.

"Yeah man, listen, I know you aren't officially on the schedule until tomorrow, but Brianna is in labor and I can't find anyone else to cover, so can you come to work tonight? I'll get my shift tomorrow covered, but man I gotta go, and fast!"

Toeing off the Xbox, and pulling the sweatshirt back over his head, Seeley dropped the orange on the counter and told Pete he'd be there, "give me 10 man, gotta leave a note for Pops and then I'm out the door."

"Thanks man, you're a life saver. This one's a boy, gonna name him Nick." Pete had worked at Zams for the last 10 years, 4 girls and now a boy and Seeley was happy for him, "It's about time man, gonna get a boxer yet!"

The two hung up and Booth left his Pops a note telling him where he was. Picking up the discarded orange, he headed out the door and aside from the football field, his favorite place to be. Seeley had been skating at Zams since peewee hockey; he'd worked there since he turned 14. He was always unavailable during football and hockey season, and although not officially off the schedule, he wasn't slated to return until after Thanksgiving. He gave lessons three times a week and worked the counter twice a week. Of all the private instructors, he had the fuller classes, they seemed to be mostly filled with girls and pre-teen or teenage boys. He'd like to think they came for his patience as an instructor, but Pete and Roger Dillon, the owner told him it was because the girls liked his body and the guys wanted to learn how to get the girls with mad hockey skills.

Driving to Zams his mind drifted back to the one thing he hadn't stopped thinking about in the past 6 weeks. Temperance. Just her name made him crazy, she'd taken over his thoughts, his body, his heart, everything. In just that short amount of time, she'd ingrained herself into him so much that he wasn't sure he could handle the outcome of her court date today. He had prayed that she didn't go the Sweets this past week at Wednesday mass. Normally a Sunday man all the way, he'd felt that any extra assistance he could maybe get would be great. He knew that as soon as Angela knew he would know, but of course, Angela was a busy girl in her own right, so it could be tomorrow at the dance before he knew anything. He figured he could go to the museum on Saturday to be really sure, but as it turned out, he had two classes booked already tomorrow from the schedule he'd been emailed, and although he still hadn't picked up his tux, he figured he'd make an appearance at the dance; he'd be done with his classes by then. Wendell and Fischer had certainly begged him to go enough. None of them particularly cared about dancing, it was more the loud music, tight dresses and relatively easy atmosphere that usually made them want to go. This time though, Wendell was a little moony eyed about Angela, and Fischer had talked about that little freshman nonstop in the past two days. Seeley parked in the back of the lot, grabbed his bag and locked up the Explorer, then went into Zams to start the first of many shifts this winter.

"Oh man, thanks! I totally owe you one!" Pete said grabbing his jacket and throwing the keys at Seeley, he'd been waiting on the other side of the counter, in reaching distance of the rink phone if someone called, but still ready to bolt when he got there.

"No problem man, tell Brianna I said hi and congrats!" he caught the keys and dropped his bag behind the counter. Aside from checking skates in and out, he'd also have to hand brush the ice right before they shut it down for the night, balance the till, restock the towels and stuff in the locker rooms, make sure they were clean and take out all the rink trash. The opener tomorrow would use the zamboni on the ice in both rinks. He looked at the rink rental list and there was only one team scheduled tonight. It was the Friday before Thanksgiving, so he was surprised to see even that one team on the roster. It was an over 40 team, and most of them were probably bachelors who weren't doing anything but eating chicken wings and watching football on the holiday anyway. He turned on the camera's and looked at the action on the free skate rink, barely 15 people aimlessly skating to the Sirius satellite radio piped in. He looked at the station and it was top 40 pop, no wonder he thought. That music had no soul. He liked to change it to the jazz channel when he was brushing the ice, sometimes classic rock. He imagined that he and Temperance were there skating, the building to themselves, his mind imagining her in his arms, he would hold her tight, skating backwards, one hand on her back for guidance, the other tangled in her hair, leaning in to kiss her, and as per usual he stopped there because he'd learned that the cold showers didn't always alleviate that ache that seemed to permeate his entire mid section when he started down that path.

He jumped up into the raised bar stool behind the counter, checked to see who had rental skates, changed the music to the rock station which seemed to perk up all but the wannabe figure skaters. They stopped spinning and posturing and looked at the speakers in disgust which made him snort in amusement. Checking the till, they were still balanced. Pete really hadn't done much business today. Of course, it was always like this before a holiday, he was really completely stunned that he had two full classes tomorrow. Normally he had to count the tumbleweeds on the ice before a holiday.

He'd put his phone on vibrate and put it into the pocket of his hoody, pulling it out, he looked to see if he'd gotten any calls or messages, the display was blank. Turning it back to the normal setting, he put it by the rink phone and sat there restlessly tapping his fingers to the foreigner song that was now playing while he stared into space, thinking of her and willing time to fly by.

****Tempe's Story****

Lance opened the door and simply stood there for a moment, it was almost like he willed his pleasant expression to come to his face, "Hello Temperance, Ms. Noonan, I assume you are here for your things?" he stood back from the door and let her and the lawyer enter. "Yes Lance, it shouldn't take long, I don't have much" she said quietly, "Where's Rebecca?"

"She's upstairs, she had a headache as I'm sure you can imagine, so she is resting. I'll ask you to be quiet please." He was as formal as if she hadn't been living in this house for the past 18 months. She guessed 'living' was too broad of a term, existing, dwelling; those seemed to fit the situation better. Temperance and Pam went quietly up the stairs to her old room, Lance following closely behind; no doubt to make sure she only took what she came with. Pam had a canvas duffle bag and asked her where she would like to start. Pointing quietly to the dresser, she said, the first four drawers have my clothes in them, that I came here with. The bottom drawer was full of the extra linens for the bed. Temperance went to the dresser and took her school papers, books and class schedules, she moved onto the night stand, and pulled out some old cough drops, a half empty package of gum and some wadded up tissues. Throwing it and the rest of the miscellaneous bric a brac that had accumulated in her desk away. She moved to the closet and took all the uniforms that still fit off the hangers, grabbed her robe and looked in the corners of the shelf and the floor to make sure that nothing was hidden there. She looked under her bed and behind the headboard. She didn't find anything. Pam had packed all the rest of her clothes and added the uniforms to the top of the bag. "It's nothing like a garbage bag, huh?" she said, her voice thick with emotion. "You'll never use garbage bags again Temperance" Pam said, pulling the girl into a hug. Temperance was on the brink, ready to break when Lance's words made her back straighten with steel enforced resolve, "I'm sorry ladies, how much longer will this take? I have some work to do and need to get back to it."

Temperance looked at the man that up until this afternoon was to be her father figure and said, softly but forcefully, "Not long Lance, not long at all."

She and Pam moved to the small hall bathroom and aside from her mother's hair brush and a couple of hair ties and headbands, left everything else behind. She'd decided in the time it took his words to hang in the air that she would start fresh with everything after all. Turning to Pam she said, "That's it, I guess we can go." She led the way down the stairs, Pam carrying the bag and Lance close on her heels. They were almost to the front door when she heard Rebecca say softly from the top of the stairs, "Tempe, wait please?" Pam moved closer to the door and Temperance stopped and looked up at Rebecca. Hurrying down the stairs, her face streaked with makeup and her hair disheveled, she'd never looked so unlike Rebecca before, Temperance wasn't sure who this person was and where she'd been the past year. Rebecca took her into her arms and hugged her tight. "I'm sorry Temperance, I'm sorry I let you down, please forgive me" she sobbed into her shoulder. Patting her on the back Temperance could feel her own tears start to fall, "I do Rebecca, I do" she said. Rebecca pulled back and handed her a small picture frame, it had a Polaroid picture of the three of them that had been taken shortly after she'd arrived, it was almost an accident that it had happened in fact, they were leaving the museum after she had started working there and there was a performance artist in the parking lot who had snapped their photo. He'd given it to them as a freebie entrance to his next show and she thought that Lance had thrown the Polaroid away but seeing it now, she realized that Rebecca had kept it. "I know it's too little too late, but please keep this and call me anytime, here or at work if you need anything, okay, please Temperance?" she said choking back a fresh round of tears. Pulling her into her embrace again, Temperance whispered, "I will Rebecca, thank you." She then turned and looked at Lance expectedly, and he merely looked through her. "Goodbye Lance" she said formally, his nod was all she needed in return.

The two of them left the house that had held her prisoner, but still held a mountain of memories and walked to the idling Escalade outside. Getting inside the car Angela reached for a still crying Temperance and pulling her close said, "Its okay Sweetie, let it out, we'll get through this, it's going to be new and different for all of us." Grayson pulled away from the curb and dropped Pam off at the courthouse, she reached into her bag and handed Temperance a card, "if you need anything Miss Brennan, please don't hesitate to call me, day or night, and I'll be seeing you I'm sure" she smiled and nodded at them all before getting into her own car. Tempe tucked the ivory card into her pocket and said tentatively, "I don't mean to be presumptuous or anything, but I'm starving…can we get something to eat soon?" Grayson's melodious laugh echoed through the car and was echoed by Angela's. "Yeah, I think we can handle that!" she said, "Grayson, let's get the usual, vegetarian style and head home, what do you say?"

"Sounds like that would be an excellent decision Miss Angela" and he drove the car to her favorite pizza joint to place what would soon become a regular order for the two of them.

****Seeley's Story****

"Zam's-this is Booth, how can I help you?" he answered the phone with the practiced dialogue that he'd been saying for almost 5 years. "Um yes, I have a question?"

"Yes Sir, what can I help you with?"

"What do Billy The Kid and Winnie The Pooh have in common?"

"Fischer?"

"Yes"

"What do you want man?"

"To know if you know the answer to my question, why else would I call?"

"What do they have in common Fischer?" Seeley rolled his eyes and sighed.

"They have the same middle name of course" he said laughing hysterically.

"Have you been drinking?" Seeley asked, secretly wondering who he had offended to get Fischer as a best friend.

"Nope, I was bored and my mom said that Sweetie Petey and his wifey were squirting out another kid tonight and I knew that you would be the go to man on the shift." His mom worked at St. Paul's hospital as a maternity nurse and had called to tell him that Pete was in there, he'd been friends with Pete even longer than Seeley had; Pete had coached his first hockey team in fact. Fischer wasn't on the schedule nearly as often as Seeley was; he was their last choice in fact. It wasn't really his fault, he would just forget to do simple things, restock the towels, turn off the lights, things that weren't really worth firing him over, but didn't endear him to the owners.

"So, you thought you'd call and harass me with stupid jokes?" Seeley said, watching the camera, there was a soon to be very sore little girl that he had a feeling he'd be picking up pretty soon. She was practicing an advanced jump over and over and although she was holding the landing, barely, even he could see that she was getting tired and was going to dump it here soon. He wondered idly where her spotter was and moved the camera around the rink to see if he could see someone who looked like they should be watching her. Spotting the puck bunny on the side of the rink talking to a couple of older teenagers, he waited for the inevitable fall. Returning back to the conversation, he realized that Fischer had been rambling this whole time. "I'm sorry Fish, what?" he said.

"What's going on? Chloe there?"

Chloe was a major puck bunny and she was definitely worth getting distracted by. "Nah, her replacement it looks like, I've got what looks to be Pete Carlson and Alex Pina and that Eddie kid down there in free skate and there's some chick talking to them, she's got a JR Kerrigan practicing advanced stuff and she's not watching her" he told him.

"Ahh…well it sounds like you're gonna have to do a red cross, so I'll let you go, I was really just calling to see if you'd heard anything from the Lady Temperance anyway."

"No, not yet, I'll let you know though, what time are you picking Alana up for the dance?" he asked, most of his attention still on the camera.

"Um around 5 or so, we're gonna head to dinner w/Wendell and he's going to meet Angela there, so we'll be there around 7, you wanna come?" he asked.

"Nah, I'll be there around 7 or so myself, I'm not staying that long though, I've got two classes tomorrow, so I don't plan on being out all night, plus I still don't know what's going on w/Temperance-hey man I gotta go" Seeley hung up the phone and grabbing the microphone that piped into both rinks, selected the free skate rink and announced, "ALL SKATERS OFF THE ICE IMMEDIATELY" and then putting the phone to answer he grabbed the med bag and his making sure the guards were in place on his skates, he trotted off as fast as he could to the rink where the little girls inexperience and fatigue had finally caught up with her.

****Angela's story****

After getting their pizza and sodas the girls and Grayson headed back to Angela and now Tempe's house. Grayson pulled into the spacious garage and Temperance was in awe. This was by far the nicest house she'd ever seen, ever imagined. She carried the pizza as Grayson grabbed her bag and they entered through the mud room and directly into the kitchen. The kitchen was the size of a commercial restaurant and had enough room to prepare enough food for over 100 people. Seeing the look on her face Angela said, "My dad does a lot of entertaining, so we have to have a lot of room. It's really not that overwhelming once you get used to it. I mostly stay in one side of the house, Grayson and LaNiecy live in the guest quarters, it's on the other side and down stairs from my side, dad's rooms are upstairs, the studio is in the basement and well, you'll figure it out. Come on" she stopped talking and they resumed walking towards her side of the house. Grayson took Temperance's bag into a room that was at least 4 times bigger than the biggest room in the Sweets whole house, and that house hadn't been exactly small. "This will be your room Miss Temperance, Angela will get you settled tonight, and then sometime in the next couple of days, Miss Maria will be by to help you girls make it yours. Now, if you two ladies will excuse me, I'm going to go to my home and see my bride. Please call me should you decide you'd like to go anywhere tonight. Goodnight ladies." And with a quick wink Grayson was gone.

"Is this really my room?" Temperance asked, the pizza forgotten and starting to list in her hand as she looked around the beautiful room. Paneled in blonde hardwood, it had 4 large, floor to ceiling windows that faced what looked to be the backyard, if she had her directions correct. It was dark outside, so difficult to tell. She saw a door to her left and setting the pizza down, she walked towards it.

"Yes Temper, this is your room! That's the bathroom; it's a Jack and Jill so my room is on the other side of it. I know we have to share the bathroom, but it's really more like two master suites so it's not like we'll be sitting on each other or anything." She shook her head but understood the slow trance like walk of her friend; most people were like this when they came to her house for the first time. Wendell had been, it had taken her almost an hour to get him out of the media room. Opening the door to the bathroom, Temperance almost gasped out loud, dual vanities inset with pale pink and gold marble took up an entire wall, one was completely bare, the other obviously Angela's, it was marked by all of her hair products, make up and perfume was stacked on a multiple level rack, there were two large walk in showers and a soaker tub tucked into the corner that was the size of a hot tub. Carpeted in a pale pink Berber carpet, there was matching marble around the tub and showers as well. There were two chandeliers; one above each door and in the corner, there was a three way floor to ceiling mirror. Turning around to look at Angela Tempe said, "I had no idea Angela, I mean, I knew who your dad was, and I knew you had money, but this…this is like…wow." She was stunned. She wanted to pinch herself to see if she was awake, but was afraid that it would turn out she wasn't.

"Well Sweetie, get used to it, now I thought you were starving!" she teased her pulling her back into her own room. Nodding that she was, the two of them kicked off their shoes and jumped onto her king size bed. They settled against the headboard, the pizza box open and steaming, grabbing two sodas and bringing them to the bed, they started to eat. Both of them were halfway through their second pieces when Tempe stopped and said, "Angela are you adopted?"

She'd noticed that her dad and Angela looked nothing alike, she was tall and willowy, dark haired and dark eyes, he was shorter, stockier and red hair, blue eyes. Shoving the last bit of her pizza in her mouth and uttering a very unladylike belch, she laughed and said, "Yes, I thought you knew that?"

"I didn't know it until today when I met your dad, were you a foster kid too?" she had thought that Angela would have had to had been very young when she was adopted, because she had a picture of her and her dad in her wallet that Temperance had seen once. She couldn't have been more than 4 or 5.

"Well, sit right back and I'll tell you the tale my inquisitive friend" she said in a mock serious tone. Laughing, Temperance got comfortable against the headboard and nodded for her to continue.

"When I was 15 months old, my mom died of a heroin overdose and being a drug addict she didn't keep real good records as to who my bio dad was. So, I got put in the system, now you can imagine that babies are placed pretty quickly, and that's what happened to me. I went to a lady named Harmonia. She was a tarot card reader and happened to be the girlfriend of one of the guys in my dad's band. I had been with her for three days when my dad and his band had come back from one of their gigs. Now, apparently the way the story was told to me is that I hadn't stopped crying for three days, I cried when I ate, when I slept, all the time. So, the band comes home, they were bussing it then, parked the bus inside the old barn on her property and started an impromptu jam session. So Harmonia goes out to the barn and tells Dusty, that she needs a break from all the crying and would he please go sit with me for a couple of minutes while she rested. So he and my dad came inside and he goes to get me from the playpen. My dad sat down on the couch and was watching all of this and Dusty, that was her boyfriend, he picks me up and tries to console me. Of course, I don't know this guy, so I start crying louder. He thinks that a bottle will calm me down, so sets me down on the ground. He goes to get the bottle, and I'm sitting there just bawling my head off. My dad is sitting on the couch just watching me. Still crying, I crawled over to where he was and pulled myself up onto the couch. I crawled over and into his lap and pulled his sunglasses off his face. I just looked at him and stopped crying. He took the sunglasses and put them on my face and I leaned up against him and fell asleep. I slept for 8 hours straight and my dad sat there the whole time and held me. Now, in the meantime of course, Dusty comes out of the kitchen, bottle in hand wondering why and how I stopped crying, he goes and gets Harmonia and she and the rest of the band come in." Angela took a deep breath and a drink of soda and then plumping up the pillow behind her continued, "So Harmonia asked what he did, he said "I put the sunglasses on her face and she went to sleep" and in that 8 hours that I slept, in his lap, he'd called Pam and made arrangements to get into the system, and 3 months later I was his daughter." She stopped talking and her dad walked in, sunglasses on and a broad smile on his face. Having caught the last part of the conversation he said, "And Temperance, she's been my Angel ever since. I don't know what it was that made us connect, but she was destined to be my daughter as I was destined to be her dad." He walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, taking Angela's hand in his, he kissed the back of it and said, "One hour later and Harmonia may have called child services, but because Dusty wanted to get home, we took a shortcut and ended up saving some time on the drive home. Welcome to our home Temperance, I hope that you will soon find it to be your home as well. Nothing here is off limits, everything in this house is yours, yours to read, yours to touch, yours to do whatever you would like to do. Angel has told me that you have class tomorrow, and I understand that her young man has offered to escort her to a dance, can I assume that you are going as well?"

"I'm not sure to be honest, I mean, I have a boyfriend and he asked me to go, but we weren't sure what was going to happen, so as of right now, I guess I'm not going, because I don't know if he is or not" she stammered, still a little shy around him.

"Well, I'm sure we'll get it all figured out soon, as for this boyfriend, I insist on meeting all of Angel's beau's and I will insist the same with yours. I will be home for the next month, so we will have plenty of time to become acquainted with one another, and I'm sure Angela will keep you busy. I will let the two of you go back to reminiscing for the time being. I'll be in the studio should you need me. Angel, please don't drive the Aston for the next couple of days, it needs serviced and I want the bug to be looked at as well, before we let Temperance drive it."

She interrupted him, "I don't have a license Sir, so there is no hurry."

Raising his eyebrow at the Sir, he spoke kindly when he said, "We will have to ameliorate that as soon as possible then, young lady. Grayson is much too busy to be ferrying you both around" he winked and came around the bed to where Temperance was sitting, he sat down and took her hand in his, removing his sunglasses, he said, "I hope you will be very happy with us Temperance, and remember, never Sir" he winked and kissed her hand and then putting on his sunglasses bowed to both of them, shutting the door behind him.

Remembering she still hadn't called Seeley, Temperance asked if she could borrow Angela's cell phone, dialing his number from memory, she was surprised to get his voice mail. "Hey Big Man, you'll never guess where I'm calling from, I have good news! Call Angela's phone when you can!" and she hung up. Handing the phone back with a yawn to Angela, she stretched and slightly yawned again.

Angela realizing that she had had a major day, said, "Temper-I'm gonna go, you go to sleep, and I'll wake you up in the morning, before you have to be at class. I've got some stuff to do tomorrow, but we'll get a chance to talk some more in the morning, okay?"

Temperance looked at the clock by the bedside and said, "its only 8:30 Angela, even the Sweets let me stay up later than this! I'll be fine" she said, yawning again.

"Okay Temper, it's your call." Angela said smirking. "Speaking of calls, I'm going to call Wen really quick, why don't you get into your pajamas and I'll tell you how I met Grayson okay?"

Agreeing, Tempe took her pajama's to the coliseum sized bathroom and after a little searching found a brand new toothbrush in a drawer on her side of the vanity. She took her mom's brush and brushed her hair after changing and looking at her reflection she whispered to herself, "What are you going to do now Temperance Brennan?"

****Seeley's Story****

Finally getting onto the ice, Seeley stripped his guards off and skated over to where the little girl and her 'instructor' were huddled, picking her up, he carried her over to the penalty box and sat her down. "Where does it hurt?" he asked her slowly wiping the tears from her face, she was probably no older than 7 or 8 and had been doing a jump that no one younger than 14 or 15 should attempt. "It hurts my back" she sobbed reaching for her tailbone. All employees at Zams had rudimentary skills when it came to skating injuries; however instructors had to go through the same training that paramedics took. They would often deal with nasty cuts, strains, sprains, head injuries and the like while teaching classes or coaching hockey. Seeley was no exception, he looked where she was pointing and realized that she had probably fallen on her tailbone, she'd be stiff and sore for a couple of days, maybe a week but wasn't seriously injured that he could see. After getting her name, and the name of her instructor who was quick to tell him it wasn't her fault, she told her not to do the jump, he filled out an injury report and told the instructor to help her get dressed and get her things, he would call her parents. He carried her to the ladies locker room and held her while the older girl removed her skates, then watching them hobble into the locker room he walked back to the ice and yelled "Free skate is over in 15 minutes, clear the ice" and putting his guards back on, he walked back to the front desk.

Seeley found the girls contact information and called both sets of parents. The older girls' mom said she would be there soon as did the younger girl. Assuring her mom that he had an injury form filled out for her as well as the insurance information available for Zams; he told her he'd be at the front desk with her daughter. He put a copy of the injury report and the insurance paperwork in the file for Roger, and then flipped the outside lights to close. The team that had booked the practice rink didn't show, so he turned everything off from the front desk. Eventually the skaters all tumbled out of the wide double doors leading to the rinks and he checked in all the skates, telling two of them that they still had fines from last season and wouldn't be able to book practice time until they were paid, he watched them all leave. The two girls came up next, the older one sullen and quiet, and the younger one still hitching sobs and hobbling. He told her she'd be okay and her mom was on her way. No sooner had he given her his most winning smile did both moms come storming in. Both of them gravitated to their daughters, one angry, one concerned. He did his best to diffuse the situation, but knew that the older girl was really going to have a long night. He gave the younger girl's mom her paperwork and told her that her rink time could be rescheduled whenever she was feeling better. After escorting them all to the front doors, he closed and locked them and then turned back to do his closing chores. He quickly brushed the free skate rink and picked up the trash left around the seats and edges, he also made a cursory check of the locker rooms and restocked towels before taking all the trash to the giant bins in the back. Locking the back doors, he made sure the temperature regulators were all set and turned off all the lights and locked the rinks. Some joker had taken the zamboni on a joyride about 3 years prior and having driven it to the Burger King drive thru about a block away before getting it stuck had convinced Roger to put in some extra doors and locks.

Seeley headed back up front and grabbed his stuff, tucking his phone into his pocket; he turned the building phone to the machine and locked up to leave. He drove home, yawning, looking forward to bed, the day's events completely out of his mind he never checked his phone.


	7. Chapter 74B

CHAPTER 74B

****Angela's Story****

Tempe came out of the bathroom and crawled back into the bed; Angela had changed into her own pajamas and said, "Okay, part two of the story of Angela Pearly Gates Montenegro begins. I bet you didn't know that was my name when I was born huh? I was born Hope Li Montenegro, and my dad changed it to Angela Montenegro when he adopted me because I was his 'Angel', then when I was 12 I changed to 'Pearly Gates'. Montenegro is my mom's last name, so my dad let me keep a part of her. I mean, if she hadn't of died, who knows where I would have been. Right? Anyway," she took a drink and then said, "So I hung out with my dad all the time, all his shows, all his tours, the talk shows, all of it. I was always there, if he couldn't be there himself, than Harmonia would watch me at the show or wherever, or maybe the roadies, but I was never alone and I was never in harm's way. One day he came in from doing a show and I had been in the back of the concert hall with a couple of the roadies, I was 6, and I was telling one of them he was a horse's $$ for bluffing while we were playing cards. My dad overheard it and decided right then I needed to go to school. I was not going to get an education from the roadies. He and the band took some time off, he enrolled me at St. Agony elementary school, because this is where we lived and I went there for 6 whole days. On the 6th day, I decided that I was done with elementary school education; I wanted to be with my dad and my friends. After kindergarten class, instead of waiting for my dad to pick me up, I went to find him and I took off walking. Well, I took off walking in the completely wrong direction and got lost. Imagine that right? So I'm wandering around this unfamiliar area, it was all unfamiliar to me as we were on the road most of the time and I come to this little house and there in the backyard is this group of 5 or 6 kids and this woman, this black woman is reading to them from a book in her hand, and she had the prettiest voice I'd ever heard. So I brazenly walk into the backyard and she sees me and gestures that I should sit down with the rest of the kids, so I do. Not one of them even turned to notice me. She gets done reading and they all start to sing this song, it was beautiful and I loved it. I felt like I was where I was supposed to be. Of course by now, my dad has come to the school, I'm not there, no one knows where I am, the cops are all looking for this crazy 6 year old kid and I know nothing about it, neither does this woman. Parents start showing up for the rest of the kids and I notice that they are all blind. Standing up, the woman goes to her house and out comes the biggest black man I had ever seen in my life. He walks over to me and says, "Hello little one, are you lost? My name is Grayson Barrasa and this is my bride LaNiecy, what is your name?"

" I say 'Angela Montenegro and your voice is pretty' I didn't know they were Australian, I just knew that I hadn't heard an accent like that before. Grayson calls the police to see if they are missing a young girl and they show up with my dad, who is frantic and mad and relieved all at the same time. He and Grayson introduce themselves, the police leave and I tell my dad very matter of factly that I'm not going back to that school, I want to go to LaNiecy's school instead because she 'talks pretty'. Obviously I'm not blind, so I cannot attend and I start to throw a whopping fit. LaNiecy says, 'as it turns out, I'm going to be ending my private school classes at the end of this semester, I would be happy to tutor your daughter' and so, my dad hires her to be my tutor and then he hires Grayson to be my bodyguard because the entire time we are standing there I haven't let go of his hand, and aside from my dad I didn't hold any man's hand for any reason, not even Dusty or any of the roadies. That's how he became my 'other dad' and how he and LaNiecy came to live with us. She tutored me until I was 15 then I went to Europe and got my GED and then I came home. Cool huh?"

Angela stopped talking and smiled at Tempe who said, "That's amazing, you were so lucky, anything could have happened, but only good did. Grayson is really nice, and I can't wait to meet LaNiecy, she sounds wonderful."

"She is, she's very beautiful, she's blind too you know, she never saw me come in the backyard that day, she just sensed that I was there. So it really was lucky for me. Now, I'm tired, you're tired and you still have class tomorrow. I'm going to take you to class and then I'm going to go to the dance and help set some stuff up, I have a big surprise for your school. I'm probably not going to pick you up from class though, Grayson will do that. I'll leave your dress and stuff in the bathroom, and I'll call Michaela and Tamara in the morning, they're my dad's stylists and they'll be here for hair and makeup. Okay? Good night Temperance, I'm so glad you're here." She leaned over and hugged her and got off the bed.

"I don't know Angela, should I go to the dance? Is Seeley going to be there?" she asked.

"Yes, you should go, and yes he's going to be there, Wendell and Fischer will make sure of it, plus your other friends are going to be there, you're allowed to do stuff here, it's not like the Sweets house, you don't have to stay all night either, just long enough to melt Seeley's heart with the dress and then we can all come back here or whatever." She smiled saucily, "maybe we will come here and have our own party!"

"I think I'll wait on that for now, let me get a little more time here under my belt before I start inviting my boyfriend and his friends over okay?" she grinned, Angela was a total free spirit.

"Is there a phone in here I can use though?" she asked looking around.

Angela got up and looked in the drawers of the dresser, and then in the nightstand, finally in the desk over by one of the windows, she found a land line phone and plugged it in, "here you go, the number is on the base and well, it's the same as the house number so you already know it. Going to call Seeley again?"

Shyly Temperance said, "Yes, I thought I'd try and I didn't want to use your phone. Oh, is there a radio?"

Angela went into her room and brought in one and plugged it in, "We'll get you your own phone and stuff this week, see you in the morning" she hugged her again and then left through the joined bathroom shutting the door behind her. "I'll be right through here, sweet dreams"

"Thank you Angela, thank you so much" Temperance told her as she left.

"You're welcome Temper"

****Seeley and Tempe's Story****

Driving home Seeley turned the radio on and caught the last bit of this monologue, "ITS BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I HEARD FROM HER, BUT THE BONE LADY IS ALIVE AND WELL AND SAYS THIS IS GOING OUT TO THE BIG MAN IF HE'S LISTENING"

"Well I know there's a reason and I know there's a rhyme we were meant to be together that's why. ..

We can roll with the punches we can stroll hand in hand and when I say it's forever you understand. .."

He listened to the whole song while idling in the driveway and thought, "well wherever she is, she has access to a phone and a radio" Seeley took his bag into the garage and crept through the house, seeing Jared's sneakers by the back door he knew he was home and both guitars on the couch he knew Howard was here as well. Pops car wasn't there yet, so he looked at his phone and saw that he had two messages, one a voice mail and one a text. He read the text first, "game went longer than thought be home late P", he grinned and looked at the clock; it was almost 10, that was late for Pops so he would be home soon. Listening to the voicemail as he dug through the refrigerator he stood bolt upright when he heard Tempe's voice, banging his head on the top of the refrigerator, he dropped the soda and the jar of mayonnaise. Picking them both up and grabbing another soda that wouldn't explode when he opened it, he called Angela's cell phone and got her voice mail immediately, hanging up he called Wendell and got his too. Reasoning they must be talking to each other he was about to call her back and leave a message when his phone began to ring in his hand. Looking at the display, it said, "PRIVATE NUMBER", but he answered it anyway.

"Hello?"

"Hi Seeley"

"Temperance? Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me Big Man, guess where I am?"

Smiling and leaning up against the counter, relaxed immediately, both from the song and hearing her voice, he said, "I have no idea Bone Lady, tell me."

"I was adopted by Angela's dad! I'm at her house right now! My room is the size of the gym, I swear, and I get my own phone and I'm going to get to learn how to drive too! Seeley, this house is amazing, and her dad is so nice and Angela is my sister now! Isn't that cool?" she was so excited, he could hear the little girl in her voice; it was his favorite sound in the world anymore.

"Angela's sister huh? That's going to be some change, I hope you aren't going to become a wild child like her?!" He was relieved; he sank down against the dishwasher, his dinner forgotten. He just wanted to revel in her news. Truth be told, he wanted to drive over there and hold her, but that would have to wait until after his classes tomorrow. He asked, "Are you going to be at the museum tomorrow? Can I come see you when I get done with work?"

"Yes, I'm going to class, I thought you were going to go to the dance with the guys and Angela?" she said quietly, something told her to not let him know she was going, she wanted to surprise him.

"Well, I'm not going if you aren't-that's dumb Tempe, why would I do that?"

"You should go, it will be fun, I can't go, I have to go to the courthouse and do some stuff there and then I'm going to go get some clothes and stuff with Billy, Angela already promised Wendell she'd be at the dance, so she can't go with me, and I kinda want to get to know him a little, you know?" it was the thinnest argument she could come up with on the spur of the moment, and hoped he didn't see through it.

"I guess, it just seems dumb, I want to see you Temperance, now I will finally get to see my girlfriend and I can't, it's ridiculous, can't you go shopping on Sunday or Monday? I mean, we have no school next week!" he rolled his eyes and thumped his head against the dishwasher.

"Seeley, don't be mad, this is all new to me too, I've been here like 3 hours okay?" she was tired and although she wanted nothing more than to be with him, she knew that it was going to be a while before she was really comfortable with this whole new arrangement, plus she just wanted to surprise him, was that so wrong of her?

"I know I'm sorry Tempe, you're right, so it's a nice place?" he told himself to be patient, after all she was in a new environment and a new situation.

Yawning, she said, "it's beautiful, it's like living in a museum, my room is so pretty, I don't even know what to add to make it more mine, it's perfect. I know one thing though; I'm bringing Booth home the next week when we go back to school. It'll be nice to have him to sleep with…" she paused, "If I can't have you that is…"

Groaning slightly at what she was implying he held the phone closer to his ear, "I wish the real 'Booth' was going to be able to be there too, I'm sure I could help you sleep, in fact, I know I could" his voice was soft and husky, knowing he was heading down a dangerous road but not able to stop.

"Tempe you and I know that this is not the time to start something like that, I'm sure it's 10 times harder for me to sneak into your new house, and I know I'll get caught by dogs, or bodyguards or even worse, Texans. So please don't start talking to me in that honey laced voice of yours. I can't handle it." he couldn't believe that he was asking her to stop, but there was still a little part of his brain not being controlled by his pants and he was desperately trying to hold on to that sane little voice.

Sensing his interest but his reluctance as well Temperance agreed, "You're right, we can't start anything over the phone anyway, I'll talk to you tomorrow before the dance, good luck with your classes Seeley."

Sighing but knowing it was the right thing to do Seeley said, "You too Bone Lady, I'll call you after the dance at the house number if that's okay?"

"Sure, that'll be fine, I'll get my cell in the next couple of days I'm sure, and Seeley, have fun. I love you." She softly whispered.

"I love you too Temperance, it won't be any fun, but I promised, I'll see you on Sunday for sure, if I have to risk a Texans wrath I'll take that chance."

Giggling slightly, she said, "Okay, good night Big Man"

"Good night Bone Lady"

Hanging up the phone he rested his head against the dishwasher again and then sighing he got up and put away the food, he wasn't hungry. Instead, he felt like he could run laps for hours and knew that a cold shower was definitely on the agenda.

She hung up and got up to turn off the overhead light. Padding softly to the large windows, she looked outside and realized that she was finally going to be able to do all the things that other girls her age were doing, both scared and energized by that, she crawled into the giant bed and her last thought was of Seeley and the dance tomorrow night.


	8. Chapter 74C

CHAPTER 74C

Seeley woke up and got ready to go to work, he half hoped that no one would show up today, and then he could sneak out and go to the museum, maybe see her for lunch. He told Pops he would be home late if he came home at all after the dance that he'd finally reluctantly agreed to go to. Pops told him to call from whoever's house he crashed at and to not get into any trouble. He agreed and headed out. Calling Angela that early in the morning was pure suicide, so he tried Wendell.

"Hey dude, I'm gonna go to this dumb $$ dance tonight, but I'm not staying all night, and I'm going to turn my phone off all day tomorrow and spend it with my girlfriend." He told him when Wendell groggily answered. Knowing what he knew about what was planned to happen that evening, he leaned back in bed and just grinned.

"Okay man, you want to come with me and Ange? We're gonna set some stuff up this afternoon with the drama dorks and then come back and get dressed." He said, yawning to look at the time. Seeing that he might as well get up anyway and hardly listening to Booth gripe he said, "Look dude, I have to get some stuff picked up and help my mom, then I've got to go get Angela and then head over to the school, so what are you bitching about?" he said, trying to get Booth to get to the point.

"I was asking you if would let me put you on the schedule for work next week, I could really use some time with Temperance, you know?"

"Oh yeah, I can work Mon thru Wed, then we have to go upstate to Grans on Thanksgiving morning, although, I'm trying to get out of it, Angela invited me over too. But yeah, put me on the schedule, that's cool."

"Thanks man" Booth said, hanging up as he drove over to Zams, he wanted to make sure things were taken care of both with that little girl and he needed to finish up brushing the ice from the day before.

Tempe and Angela drove to the museum and Angela went over the plan one more time, she told her to wait out front and Grayson would pick her up. Just before Tempe got out of the car, Angela handed her a cell phone and said "Her, dad had this for you when we knew for sure, it's preprogrammed with all the phone numbers for the house, the bus, the studio, dad, the lawyers, Grayson and of course the most important person in your life" she stopped and then said, "Me."

Laughing Tempe took the phone and said that she would see her in the evening as planned. "Okay, hey, I also put Studly's phone number in there and the guys too, you'll need to get your friends from school in there yourself."

"Thanks Ange-I mean it, thank you." She said, as always close to tears.

"No problemo Sweetie, I'll see you tonight, now go hug Max and Z-man and have fun!" Angela smiled at her and left, heading over to meet Wendell at the copy store, they had a great plan all worked out and so far, things were coming together nicely. The only thing that Fischer had to do was make sure student council president Chelsea Cole handed over the MC duties to him. He felt sure that it would be possible, she wanted to meet one of the hockey players on their team, and he was going to do his best to make that happen.

Tempe went inside and went straight to the classroom, when she walked in there was a big sign strung across the white board that said, "WELCOME TEMPERANCE!" she smiled and everyone in class started to clap, Max walked around his desk and picked her up in a big hug and said, "I knew it was going to start turning around for you honey, I just knew it." he held her tight and then put her down and everyone else told her congratulations, slowly they all trickled back to what they were doing and Zack came over and held up his fist for her to bump. "You did it kid, I knew you would" he smiled that dazzling smile and she smiled back. If she wasn't head over heels in love with Seeley, she'd fall for him, she just knew it. "Thanks Zack, I'm so relieved." He reached out and she came into his arms for a hug. "Looks like we're stuck with each other then I guess" he said into her hair, willing his body not to respond to her. He could only be her friend, and he knew that. "Lets get to work, I understand you have a dramatic entrance to make tonight, is that right?"

Temperance nodded yes and then was off and running, explaining exactly what they had planned for the evening, what her dress looked like, what Angela's dress looked like. She said, "She's wearing an acid green Vera Wang dress that barely covers her butt, and these 4 inch Ferragamos heels, they're like so hot" Her voice and demeanor suggested she was both jealous, embarrassed and completely serious about how pretty Angela was going to look. Trying not to burst her bubble, but really not interested in the inner workings of womens fashion, he just smiled and tried to look interested. They were still working on the glowing rocks, and spent most of the day cataloguing the different responses they got to different light wave lengths.

Too soon, but not soon enough, it was time for class to be over. Angela had called her at lunch and told her that they were all good to go at the school as far as the rest of their plans, she said that she probably wouldn't see her at the house, but that Tamara and Michaela were already there and she should be all set with her own dress. Tempe told her to be careful and that she would see her right on time this evening.

At 4pm when class was over, Temperance hugged Max goodbye, "Have fun tonight honey, be careful but more than anything, just have fun." He told her, "I will Max, thank you." She said as she left his embrace, Zack also told her to have fun, he'd taken her phone to put his phone number in it, "I know Seeley and his gang will be there, but call me if you need me, okay kid?" he looked into her eyes, willing her to understand what he meant. "I will Zack, I will" she leaned up and kissed his cheek, and then hurried outside to get ready for what was sure to be the best night of her life.


	9. Chapter 75A

Chapter 75A

Temperance waited outside only briefly before Grayson showed up to take her back to the house. "How was your day Miss Temperance?" He asked her when she climbed into the front seat. "It was fun, we were examining some rocks that have a phosphorus worm that lives in them and it glows when certain light frequencies are introduced to it. Grayson, you can call me Tempe, you don't have to call me Temperance" she said the last bit a little shyly. "Do you not like your given name Miss Temperance?" he asked, glancing over to her as he drove.

"Lance called me Temperance" she said, "I think I prefer to be Tempe" her voice was strong. Grayson smiled and nodded and then said, "Okay Miss Tempe, then that is what I will call you from here forward. Miss Angela asked me to give you this when you were in the car." He handed her a note written in Angela's clear and flowing script.

TEMPE'S LIST OF THINGS TO DO FOR HER FIRST FABULOUS DANCE

Go home and eat something, there should be a small plate in the little refrigerator that was made just for you. Eat it all.

Brush your teeth. (I know it's silly to tell you that, but you would be surprised how many times you'll forget this before a big event)

Shower. DO NOT WASH YOUR HAIR. Dirty hair styles better. Trust me, you wash it and Tamara will come unglued!

Shave in the shower, the last minute you are in there, turn the water to the coldest setting and stay in it for the full minute. This will open your pores and Michaela will be very happy about that.

There is Sandalwood body butter (remember the little jar we bought?) I left it out on the bathroom counter, put it on. Put it all over. Do not put any clothes on for 20 minutes to let the oil and butter soak into your skin. It's better than a perfume. I don't care what you do for the 20 minutes, read, dance the Thriller dance in the bathroom, practice tai chi, whatever you want, but don't sit down and don't wipe it off.

Put your underthings on and then a robe, call the girls, their number is on your phone, then do EXACTLY what they tell you.

After hair and makeup then they will help you put on the dress. LET THEM.

When you are all done, then put on the jewelry, brush your teeth again and then Michaela will do your lips, then you will go to the limo with Grayson, do not put your shoes on, wear the slippers until you get to the gym.

At 7:40 Grayson will escort you into the gym and then when the spotlight comes on, he will escort you inside. DO NOT RESIST, make sure your shoes are on, smile and hold your head up high

If you fail to do any of these instructions, I will not be happy.

Reading through the note a couple of times, she thought it was an awful lot of instructions for the two hours that she had, but she reasoned that Angela must know what she was doing. "Grayson, do you know what is going on?" she asked the silent man. Temperance knew they were going to surprise Seeley with her presence but she didn't know any of the other plans and she was starting to get nervous. "Miss Tempe, all I know is that I am to escort the lovely princess to the ball, Miss Angela wouldn't go to all this trouble unless she knew what was going to happen, so I would not worry. Here we are." He said as they pulled into the garage. Grayson held the door open for her and then entered through the side door, allowing Temperance to go in front of him, they entered the kitchen and he said, "I'll be in to get you in 2 hours Miss Tempe, and smile this will be fun." He smiled at her and turned to leave, "Grayson, can I ask you one more question?"

"One more or a hundred more Miss Tempe, whatever you would like" his voice was so soft and pleasant to hear, she blushed slightly and said, "How do I get back to my room from here?" he could tell she was embarrassed to ask, "Ahhh Miss Tempe, this will feel like home sooner than you think, go through that door to the large entry room, go to the hallway with the red guitar in front of the entry door and follow that to your room."

"Thank you Grayson," she said.

He winked and said, "I won't tell and you're welcome" and then entered into the hallway taking him to his quarters. Tempe took the small plate of fruit and cheese out of the refrigerator and grabbed a juice box and headed to her room. When she got there, she shed all but her under things and ate her food, she turned the radio on to the lowest volume she could hear and then decided to throw caution to the wind and turned it up, when no one knocked on the door or yelled to turn it down, she turned it up even louder and began to dance around the bedroom. She had no way of knowing that Billy had soundproofed every room in the house.

She found her dress hanging in the bathroom, her shoes and accessories laid neatly out on the expansive counters, there was a loofah and razor and all kinds of other fun girly things in the shower and on the counters, clearly Miss Maria had gone shopping for them today. She got into the shower and could still hear the music playing, singing along to the song that was blaring, she realized she had forgotten to brush her teeth like Angela had predicted she would, so she jumped out of the shower, grabbed her toothbrush and paste and jumped back in the shower. She then spent the next 5 minutes giggling in the shower about being out of the spray with no clothes on and no one caring. When she reasoned that she was as clean and smooth as she could get, she turned the water to the arctic setting and silently cursed her new sister. Open pores or not, that was not fun.

Getting out, she consulted her list of things to do. It didn't say whether she should dry off or not, but reasoning that it couldn't hurt, she wrapped herself in one of the luxury towels and started to put the body butter on. It was incredibly thick, but very soft and silky. She loved the scent, it was called cinnabar and was a mixture of cinnamon oil and sandalwood. When she was done, she practiced her dance steps, which were not many, well, nonexistent to be honest. Suddenly panicked, she stopped still in the bathroom and realized, I can't dance. She went into her room and began to pace. She saw a white piece of paper folded up on her pillow. Half wondering if it was a mint for her pillow or not, she went over and opened it up. It said, "You're probably freaking out because you can't dance. Don't worry about it, no one can really dance. Besides, Seeley isn't going to care about that, and you won't either." Love Angel.

Smiling because her friend knew her so well, she checked the time and it had been the required 20 minutes, so she called Tamara and Michaela, and got into her pale blue lacy thong and matching bra. There was a silk kimono like robe hanging in her closet, so eschewing her old terry cloth one, she put it on and walked into the bathroom, looking at herself in the three way mirror, she was pleasantly surprised to see how much older than 16 she looked. Her skin glowed and the subtle lift the bra gave her made her cleavage that much more pronounced, the lace panty top, barely caressed her hips. She made a face in the mirror and then laughed at herself.

Tamara and Michaela knocked on the door and then walked on in. Both of them were impeccable dressed and carried black hard shell boxes the size of Booths hockey bag. Smiling nervously, Michaela said with a slight British accent, "don't worry love, we've been doing this a long time and when we're done, your man is gonna be tripping over himself to get to you"

Tamara nodded and agreed, "Aye, you'll be the prettiest thing there Miss." Her soft Irish brogue melted off of her tongue. She came over and told Temperance to take the hair net off and to sit down so she could get to work. Michaela told her that she would work on her make up when the curlers and spray was all done, so for now, she would just get her color palette mixed up and then would get her started.

Tempe had never been so pampered in her life. She felt exactly like a princess and questioned herself a couple of times if she even deserved to be treated so well. Sensing her mood, Tamara told her that she had beautiful hair and that she must really take care of herself. The women soon put her at ease and they were getting along really well.

Temperance's phone began to chirp and Michaela stopped what she was doing and went and got it. "Temper?"

"Angela?"

"How's it going Sweetie?"

"We're in the middle of hair and makeup now, I'll be done in about 40 minutes or so" she said as Tamara mouthed it to her.

"Okay, well we're all set here; I'm actually going to get ready at Wendell's house." Tempe interrupted her, "Who did your hair?" she asked worried that the girls maybe should have helped Angela first, "Oh honey, it's a school dance for me so I did it myself, it's a Winter Formal Ball for you so you get the works, don't worry. I'll see you tonight, oh and Seeley came over here and he's ready to go…oh my girl, he looks good. He got his hair cut and wow that man of yours can fill out a tux!" Tempe could hear the appreciation in her voice and wanted nothing more to have seen him too. She smiled into the phone, "Thanks Ange, like I wasn't worried enough!"

"You have nothing to worry about kid, now Payton and her coven? They have to worry, ok, got to go, Wendell is trying to curl his own hair" she hung up and Temperance could her Angela telling the boys to "put that down" as the phone hung up. Laughing she told Tamara and Michaela about the call. "Tell us about this man of yourn" Tamara said as she fluffed her hair.

"His name is Seeley, and he's 18 and he plays football and hockey. He's tall, and has broad shoulders with really strong arms and big hands; he has long legs and a slim waist. He has shortish brown hair and the brown eyes that are like brewed tea." She paused, realizing she probably sounded like she was reading a romance novel, "Go on girl, what else? How does he make you feel?" she winked and asked softly.

"He makes me feel safe and wonderful and he makes my skin burn and my heartbeat race and when he kisses me, I can feel the world stop spinning." She said, knowing that it was all true.

"Ahhh Lass, that's love there, that is" Michaela told her.

The three of them smiled and then Tamara said, "I'm all done here, let's give her a look?" she handed a mirror to Tempe and told her to look at it and look at the back in the vanity. Seeing that her hair was curled in big, soft curls and piled on top of her head, it looked like she was wearing a crown. Tamara spun her back around and placed a tiara on her head to hold back the curls. She told her that it had once been Cher's and that she'd given it to Angela when they were at the Grammys one year. It was platinum with small diamonds around the gentle scrollwork. Tempe looked at Tamara's reflection in the mirror, "I can't wear that! It's got to be expensive, I'll break it or lose it" she told her reaching to remove it.

"Stop that, your nails are wet" Michaela admonished, slapping away her hand, "It's a gift from your Da love, so you shouldn't take it off, he asked us specifically to have you wear it."

"He did?" she breathed looking at the two of them standing behind her.

"He did" Tamara nodded and then told Michaela to work her magic; she would do Tempe's toes.

Michaela stood in front of her and after gently shaping her brows she began to apply the foundation and then the makeup itself. Tempe couldn't believe the transformation, she no longer looked like a gawky, gangly 16 year old girl, but like she belonged on the cover of a fashion magazine, and she looked like she was at least 18 if not older. "I haven't overdone it, have I?" Michaela asked Tamara skeptically. "No dear, I think you did a very nice job, Tempe, what do you think?"

"Is that me?" She asked, briefly touching her face.

"Tonight it is honey, tonight; your fairy tale comes true."

Once the hair and makeup was done, Temperance asked, "Do I put my dress on now?"

Tamara told her, "No, now you brush your teeth and use the loo, then when that's done, wash your hands and meet us in your bedroom."

Temperance thought it was funny until after using the bathroom she realized two things, one she really had to go and two, it would have been next to impossible with her dress on. Walking carefully, minding her wet toes she went into the bedroom, where they had taken the dress off the hanger and were waiting to help her step into it. The dress was a simple sheath, ice blue with thin barely there straps, her bra was strapless and the bodice of the dress came to a perfect vee shape to give her a slightly plunging neckline, the straps of the dress had small rhinestones sewn into it, they sparkled every time she moved. Standing in the gown in her bare feet, she still felt like she was out of place. Michaela told her when she was about to step out of the limo to put her shoes on, one it would preserve the polish on her toenails, and it would also make sure that she didn't trip or fall until she was in Grayson's protective care.

The girls helped her step into the dress and then fastened the back for her, they then put the diamond pendant necklace on her and the matching earrings.

"Doesn't she look a vision?" Michaela said to Tamara when they were all done.

"She's simply beautiful, just beautiful." Tamara said, she lead Temperance into the bathroom so she could see the full effect, and Temperance was speechless. "I don't know what to say, I never could have done this myself, thank you, you made me beautiful" she told them both, tears threatening.

"Don't you dare cry young lady, and we didn't make you anything, you're just seeing yourself from the inside out, that's where true beauty is anyway" the hugged her slightly and then called Grayson to come and get her.

Grayson met her at the end of the hallway and told her "you are beautiful Miss Tempe, just beautiful." Blushing slightly she said, "thank you Grayson."

"I agree Tempe, you look as pretty as a Texas sunset, and believe me dear, that's just as close to heaven as you can get on earth." She turned to see Billy standing in the entry way. "I thought I'd shake things up a bit and maybe join you all tonight, just for a second, I won't embarrass you, I just want to say hello to an old friend there and make sure Angela stays in control. Sometimes she gets a little headstrong that one" he smiled and winked, "You don't mind do you?"

"No Sir, I don't mind at all" she said automatically. Walking over to her, he hugged her softly and then stood back, "No Sir, Billy will do remember?" his smile was lost in his beard, but his eyes were kind. "No Billy, I don't mind"

"Well Grayson, let's get my girl to her first dance, what do you say?" he offered his arm to her and she and Grayson and Billy walked from the room to the garage, her slippers soft flap the only sound as Miss Maria, Michaela and Tamara all watched from the shadows.

LaNiecy had joined them silently and said, "She has a gracious soul and you ladies did a wonderful job" turning to her Michaela was always surprised at how quietly she could move, and how even though her eyesight was gone; she was still able to see the truth.

Grayson started the HumVee limo and the three of them took off. Tempe hadn't even seen this car in the garage, she wondered how much more to this house there was to explore. Also worried about the height difference from a car to the truck, she was grateful when Grayson helped her put her shoes on and then lifted her down. Billy waved and put his sunglasses on and grabbed a guitar case from the front of the car, disappearing into the gym from a different direction.

Grayson and Temperance walked quickly into the gym and stood inside the inner room waiting for their cue. Temperance was surprised at how comfortable and easy the heels were to walk in and was glad that Grayson was there should she slip.

They heard the music and low murmur of the crowd and waited silently for what Angela had planned as there was a rolling drum roll and then the music stopped…


	10. Chapter 75B

Chapter 75B _The Dance ( a lot of liberties taken w/this one…bear w/me)_

Standing in the hallway, Tempe tensed slightly when the music stopped until she heard the barest of guitar riffs starting. She recognized the song and turned to Grayson. "Did she invite who I think she invited?" she asked him, barely able to control the smile that broke across her face. Looking down at her and smiling, he looked as innocent as he could, "I don't know what you are talking about Miss Tempe, but let's listen."

The song continued to play softly in the background as there was a slight tapping on the microphone, "Attention, hello everyone, attention!" Chelsea Cole, Student Council president was tapping on the microphone. When the room and murmurs settled down, she started to speak into the microphone, "Welcome to the Winter Formal Ball!" there was a smattering of applause, "For us seniors, this is our last dance before the prom, one of the last memories we will make in high school and I would like to thank everyone that made this night possible, the drama club, student council and various other students and volunteers, thank you. Tonight we are going to do things just a little bit differently, I hope you all enjoy what we have planned, so without further chatter from me, I'm going to turn the microphone over to a guy you all know, and he will be the official MC for the night, Fischer?"

Fischer slid across the stage and grabbed the mike from her and bowed low to the crowd, there was a blend of cat calls, whistles, cheering and clapping from the crowd. Fischer absorbed it all, he was wearing a pale blue tuxedo with a ruffled white shirt and black bow tie and had on blue Converse sneakers. Putting his hands up to calm the crowd he started to speak, "Well hello out there St. Agnes high school, for those of you who are unlucky enough to not know who I am, my name is Colin Fischer, student, athlete, and lady killer extraordinaire. A little about me, I like long walks in the moonlight, reading poetry at alternative down town clubs, sipping latte's and discussing serious works of art, and mud wrestling." He paused for the requisite laugh before continuing, "Some of you may wonder what I'm doing up here tonight, and I'll let you in on a little secret…come closer" he motioned to the crowd to come to the stage, as they moved up he said, "closer…closer"

When they were all lined up along the stage he leaned down and said into the mike, "I'm going to be a game show host when I grow up and you guys are great practice for that" winking he stood up and jumped back as the phantom musicians changed into a guitar driven version of Thriller which he danced a little too, before they switched to one of their own songs, cleverly disguised with a slower guitar and drum rhythm. "Seriously though, tonight I'm going to introduce the King and Queen and their court, we'll start with last year's winners, they will come up here and present this year's winners with their crowns and pointy stick thingies, and then…then ladies and gentlemen…I have a BIG surprise in store for you, so if I could please ask King Seeley Booth, Queen Payton Perotta, Princesses Caroline Julian, Judy Dowd and Carly Victor, as well as Princes, Wendell Bray, Jason Harkness and Ed Dekker. All of you please come up here." The lights followed the various court as they made their way up to the stage, and then when they were ringed around him, he said, "Okay, everyone get together with who they were with last year please, and remember, it's tradition, like opening presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas day, not a lifetime commitment."

There was some nervous laughter, a lot can change in a year and some of these couple was obviously estranged, and others were just friends to begin with. Seeley was furious, he didn't know any of this was going to happen and he did not want to have anything at all to do with Payton. His reluctance to stand next to her was very obvious not only to her, but to everyone in the room. The tension practically hung in the air. Fischer caught his eye and raised his eyebrows and nodded his head towards her. This was going to be the hardest part of the plan. Finally exhaling deeply and sending the death look to Fischer, Seeley moved over behind her, close but not anywhere near as close as the other kids.

Nodding his approval Fischer then said, I'll read this year's winners names and then each person will hand over their crowns or tiara's and then this year's court will stay up here for a group photo before carefully exiting the stage to the right. TO THE RIGHT people, it is IMPERATIVE that you go to the right" he enunciated clearly and then said in an undertone, "how was that for a 5 dollar word?" the crowd laughed when he kept going, "Now, I'm not going to announce the nominees, we all know who they were, we nominated them, and then we all voted for who we wanted, so it doesn't make any sense to announce their names, capice? Okay, let us continue and please, hold your applause for the end" he affected a deeper voice, sounding like a creepy overly dramatic used car salesman more than anything he said, "The winner of princess and prince of the Winter Formal dance 2009 are Justine Berry and Mark Gaffney, Amanda O'Rourke and Ryan Stephenson, Shiny Kopinsky and Eli Bilbray" he stopped speaking as they all came up on the stage and accepted the role of this year's princes and princesses, the previous winners all exited the stage to the right and went back to their dates, with the exception of Wendell, he went behind the stage.

"Is everything ready?" he asked Angela, who was putting on a little lip gloss. "Ready and willing baby, it's all a go! And, hey Dad's here too! Cool huh?" she pointed to where her dad and the band were standing playing quietly behind the curtain, her dad nodded and smiled at Wendell and he felt his throat tighten, "Great, I can meet your dad, fabulous, that's great…hey, um..I'm thirsty and you..uhh…you don't need me for this part, ummm…I'll be back" he leaned over and kissed her cheek barely and then took off for some fresh air.

The crowd was eagerly waiting for Fischer to continue, but he was allowing the tension to build by vamping the crowd a bit, finally, he could stall no longer and said and for what you've all been waiting for, the King and Queen of the Winter Formal 2009 are…wait, this can't be right? Chelsea? Are you sure this is correct?" he was turning the paper over in his hand and looking at it from all angles, when the lights shined on her and she nodded he stepped up and said, "Wow, this is unprecedented, a real moment in history, for the first time in St. Agnes history, we have a four peat! That's right, this year's King and Queen are the same reigning pair for the past four years! Payton Perotta and Seeley Booth!" the crowd erupted some with boo's and some with cheers. Seeley just turned red, but Payton preened. Wearing a teal blue skin tight dress, she was beautiful and knew it. Plus, in her mind this just sealed the deal, she and Booth were meant to be together, they'd work through that pesky legal issue in no time. She stepped up to the edge of the stage and accepted the roses, and Seeley just stood there. Holding the crown, furious and wishing he'd never come. He glared at Fischer who mouthed at him to just hold on and then addressed the crowd again, "Okay a photo of this year's court please?" the photographer snapped their picture and just as they started to exit the band started up the opening strains of an old ZZ Top song, Legs.

The lights on the stage started to flash on and off the disco ball strung in the middle of the gym started to spin and the music escalated, the crowd looked around and then seeing what the spotlight was trained on, they all watched the surprise unfold before their eyes.

Angela strutted across the stage, acid green dance enhancing every curve and the heels emphasizing the legs that already went on for miles. Payton and Seeley were the last to leave the stage and Wendell blocked their way, "Just wait, this next part is for you" he winked and stood his ground on the stage steps. The spotlight followed her as she stepped right up to Fischer and politely said, "Excuse me, is this the St. Agnes Winter Formal?"

Fischer, ever the showman, looked her up and down and then putting his thumbs in his lapels, puffed up his chest and said, "Yes, miss are you lost, can I help you?" his voice was smarmy and full of fake swagger. Raising her eyebrow and then rolling her eyes, she put her hand on her hip and the other out palm up and said, "Give me the mike Jr."

Fischer shrugged his shoulders and handed her the microphone. Turning to the crowd she said, "Hello! For those of you who don't know me, I'm Angela Montenegro-Gibbons" the crowd exploded and there were tons of whistles and applause, most of the girls were jealous and holding and seething and all of the guys were wishing they were alone in the room with her. "Oh thank you! That was very kind, you're probably wondering why I'm up here, well believe it or not, this is my first high school dance! I know right?" she was really working the crowd, "I was invited her tonight by a very handsome guy, a friend of a friend of mine. Wendell, Mr. Bray, where are you?"

The spotlight shown on Wendell and he smirked and waved a hand to the crowd, "Isn't he just hot girls?" she asked fanning herself and faking a swoon, Wendell smiled and the crowd laughed at their antics, the spotlight returned to her and she continued, "Now, the other reason I'm here tonight is because those of you who don't know me, may not know that my dad is Billy Gibbons, he plays in a little band called ZZ Top" at the mention of the band's name the room exploded with cheering and clapping, laughing and smiling Angela let them all cheer and then said, "Well, my dad is a great guy, I've never wanted for anything, I'm definitely spoiled, I mean, I'm 19 and wearing a Vera Wang dress from this year, in fact, it's the cover dress for Vogue next month ladies, check it out" she was enjoying herself, "I know I'm spoiled and I'm okay with it, but the one thing that I never had as a child was a friend my own age. I never got sleepovers and girl scouts and that sort of thing, don't feel too sorry for me, I spent the night in the Cinderella castle at Disneyland for my birthday one year, but, you know, it would have been nice to have had a best friend. Well a little over a year ago, I met my best friend. I met her at the museum of Natural History where she worked cleaning exhibits. You guys might know her? Temperance Brennan?"

When she heard her name she stepped back and tried to leave, Grayson understanding her reluctance to stay whispered softly, "Stay here Miss Tempe, it'll be alright" she looked up and saw nothing but reassurance in his eyes so she held his arm tighter and nodded, turning her attention back to the dance floor.

"Temperance is a foster kid for those of you who don't know, she was abandoned when she was 14 and was taken in temporarily by a family here locally, and who didn't want a daughter. They wanted a robot, a social status. She lived there for a year and a half. Hand me down clothes, chores, no outside socialization aside from the museum, where I met her and she was happy. She liked coming in after school and we'd talk about her classes and what happened at school. She used to tell me horror stories of how this one girl, this cheerleader used to just pick on her all the time, she didn't even have to do anything for this girl to target her. It hurt so much to see the look in her eyes when she'd talk about how all she wanted to do was go to class and her locker without being called a name, or having her lunch stepped on, just once." She turned to look at Payton who had done everything she could to edge out off of the stage, but Seeley, sensing part of what Angela was up to, kept holding her away from the steps.

"One day, Tempe came to the museum with this look in her eyes that I had never seen, turns out, she'd met someone and well, it seems that Temperance is a little shy, she likes her books, the library, the museum and watching contact sports. She also likes a really nice guy, Seeley Booth. In fact, she liked him so much, she risked her home life and the possibility of never going to the museum or seeing the 3 friends that she did have by sneaking out of her house of hell and going to his football game, and sneaking a lunch in here and there, a visit to the park and to the ice skating rink. Innocent meetings, there was nothing going on, nothing bad or anything. However, Seeley had a problem."

She stopped and walked over to where Payton was, all the way around her and then stopped and jerked her head towards her, she said, "an ex girlfriend kind of problem, the kind that just won't go away, no matter how many times she's been told. So this girl got her friends to start to spy on Temperance, and she hired someone to follow the two of them and take pictures, and videos and she stole things from her locker and then, you know what she did?" the crowd all said, "NOOOO".

"I'll tell you what she did, she took those pictures and made copies of them, and the video's and then she sent them to Seeley and the foster parents and to Tempe herself, and ruined any chance at all that this girl would be happy, and her reasoning for this? If she couldn't have Seeley no one could." She left the last sentence hanging as the crowd all started to talk and protest amongst themselves. Fischer seeing that Caroline and Daisy were edging out of the room started walking them back up towards the stage with the assistance of Hester who had a look of disgust on his face.

Angela was still up on the stage and the band had changed the tune back to a newly release popular song, they were softly playing it as she started to speak again, "So, back to my story, Tempe's foster parents took everything from her, everything she loved, the museum, her books, the library, me and Seeley. Now, since I'd never had a friend like her before, I was devastated, all I wanted was my friend back and I could just imagine what she felt like, so I asked my dad for the one thing that I had never asked for in my whole life. I asked for a little sister. You know what he did, my dad? He went out and adopted her. So, now, I have not only a little sister, she's my best friend too! But even better, is, she's family and when you mess with my family Payton Perotta" she stopped and turned towards her, "You're messing with the wrong family. Now, I know that you came here with one guy, but you'll be leaving with three, in fact, you and Caroline and Daisy will be leaving rather quickly and with those guys, over there to the left of the stage." She stopped and pointed and off to the left of the stage where it was dimly lit, there were three uniformed policemen standing still.

Payton's eyes went wide and she started to turn, holding her Seeley said, "I think you're time of running is up Payton, time to pay up" he walked her to the left of the stage where Caroline and Daisy had been delivered by Fischer and Hester. As the crowd settled down, Angela said, "Now, I know that isn't what you were all thinking of for a surprise, so I made sure that I had one. I actually have two, one, since Payton likes pictures so much, we're going to have plenty of pictures to look out real soon, and the second one is this. I've invited a few of my friends to come play for your dance tonight, they agreed to sit in on some numbers with the band that you've already hired, and I hope that this makes up for any hard feelings you may have towards me for setting Payton up like that. I do want to make it up to you." She stepped off to the side slightly as the curtain rose and the lights came up, standing behind her were her 'friends', her dad was standing next to Matt Roberts and Todd Harrell, Brad Arnold was holding a microphone of his own and Greg Upchurch was on drums.

The crowd exploded as they ran through a quick riff of Kryptonite before tapering off and letting the crowd settle down. Laughing Angela said, "So you approve of my friends?" all the kids cheered and clapped in response, "well I'm glad, the last thing I'm going to do is for my friend, my best friend and my sister" and as she spoke, thousands of tiny pictures came floating down from the rafters, they were slightly smaller than playing cards and people were trying to catch them as they came down, all of them were pictures of Payton, Payton in braces and girl scouts and middle school greasy hair and slightly pudgy Payton, the kids in her high school class had heeded Fischer's request and had gone through scrapbooks and found all the pictures they could of her, before she became the pretty princess she was now. Once the pictures stopped falling, the spotlight was trained on the back of the room and the guys started playing the song, Let Me Be Myself and Angela said, "and last but not least, I'm giving my friend, my sister something tonight too, her very first dance."

On those words, Grayson escorted Tempe into the room and aside from the music; there wasn't a sound to be heard. Occasionally whispers of "she's beautiful, I never knew, he's so lucky" were heard, but not by Tempe. The only thing she heard was the beating of her own heart, Angela looked over at Seeley who was holding the crown and staring at her, "Go get her big man" she said, handing the microphone to Chelsea and letting Wendell escort her down the stairs.

Seeley needed no more encouragement than that, tossing the crown to the back of the stage, he jumped off and headed towards her, once again the crowd parting for Seeley Booth. He met her in the middle of the dance floor where Grayson let go of her arm and melted into the crowd. Neither one of them spoke, they just stood and stared at each other, letting the room disappear. "You're beautiful Temperance, just beautiful" he breathed, looking into her eyes, shining for him and him only.

"So are you" she breathed back. He was wearing a traditional black tux, an ice blue vest that Angela had picked out to match the dress perfectly. His hair was shorter and he had an open collar with no tie. Words were no longer necessary as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her lips. The room erupted with cheers and then they all started to pair off and dance, couples swaying slowly to the song the guys were playing, which so perfectly fit all that Temperance had ever wanted.

"I love you Tempe" he said when their mouths parted, "I'll never let you go"

"Don't ever let me go Seeley, I love you too" she told him, putting her hand on his chest.

The two of them swayed, barely moving, lost in the moment and he pulled her tight to him and said, "Do you want to go? We don't have to stay?"

She sighed and said, "No, I want to stay, I want to dance and I want to spend the night with you, this is a memory that can never be duplicated Seeley" he smiled at her and kissed her again.

"Oh knock it off you two, you can do that anytime you want now" they heard Angela say and both of them turned to see her and Wendell and Fischer and Alana standing there. Alana had the same dazed look on her face that Fischer did and she had his hand in hers, her dress was plum, chiffon and looked like it had never should of left the eighties. Somehow, the two of them were perfect for each other, definitely complimentary in most every way. Wendell was wearing a gray tux, acid green vest and a green tie, he and Angela looked like they should be on a bulletin board in Times Square they so perfectly meshed together, her dark and willowy, he blonde and burly. The four of them laughed at the guilty expression on Seeley and Tempe's faces and then they smiled too. Shaking hands and giving hugs, the six of them looked to the stage where Angela and Tempe's dad had pushed his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose slightly, then winking and smiling, he put them back up as the band kicked off a faster song and the dance broke wide open.

They all looked at each other and grinned and then broke apart to dance. Seeley knew there would be repercussions for tonight, but right then and there, he didn't care. The only thing he cared about was how she had become a Queen and how he would do anything and everything to be her King…


	11. Chapter 75C

Chapter 75B Seeley's POV

Seeley reluctantly took the tux out of his truck and headed into Wendell's house. He didn't want to go to the dance at all. Truth be told, he wanted to camp out at Tempe's new house until she came home, and then spend the rest of the night with her. Doing anything, they could play Parcheesi or battleship for all he cared; he just wanted to be with her. Just him and her, no one else barging in, texting, calling or anything, he was going to see her tomorrow if he had to sacrifice something to Billy to do it.

He just walked on into the house and followed the noise to Wendell's downstairs bedroom. He had the whole bottom floor to himself, something he used to use to his advantage. However, since the whole upheaval of their group, he'd been the only one down there and it was becoming more of a man cave than ever before.

"You have got to be kidding me?" Seeley heard Angela before he saw her, walking around the corner, she was holding a bright orange Speedo on the tip of her finger and was standing in a barely there slip and bra in front of Wendell. Seeley put his hand over his eyes and said, "Whoah, sorry, I'll go upstairs and wait until you're changed." Turning to look at him, she said in a surprised voice, "Why? Haven't you ever looked at a playboy?"

Surprised, he cocked his brow and moved his hand and said slowly, "Yes"

"Well dummy, this is what they look like when they wear clothes" she said, flinging the banana hammock at Wendell. "I don't even want to know why you have that Wendell Bray, but don't ever wear it around me, that's just wrong" she winked at Seeley and walked into Wendell's hijacked bathroom where she'd spread more cosmetics and hair supplies than most major retailers carried.

Lowering his voice Seeley looked at Wendell lounging on his bed with his tux pants and suspenders and said, "She doesn't know you swim?"

"She doesn't know I swim" he said. Leaning back onto his headboard with his arms behind his head he sighed and said quietly, "I hope everything works out tonight. No matter what happens, just play along ok? I really don't want hurricane Angela swamping my shores, if you know what I mean?" Wendell's wry grin was just a little shaky. Snorting, Seeley said, "is woo afwaid of woos's girlfwiend?"

"Yes" he answered seriously and then laughed.

The two of them broke into laughter and Seeley went over to the other side of the bedroom to change into his own tux. He pulled it out of the bag and looked at it, Angela had gotten him a vest in a light blue color, it had a silver back and some sort of design was printed on the material, but subtly so the design only appeared in the right light. When he asked why that color, she'd told him that it brought out his eyes. Wondering how a color so close to no color could bring anything out, he didn't question it. He dropped his jeans and slid on the black slacks, leaving them unbuttoned while he pulled out his shirt, the barest glimpse of his abs was all Angela saw as she came back in to grab something out of her purse. Seeley wasn't paying attention to her, he was making sure the buttons lined up on the shirt and she just stared, her jaw slack and her mind reeling. She couldn't believe what Temperance had under wraps with this guy.

Wendell cleared his throat and she brought her head around sharply, his eyebrows were raised and there was a tiny grin on his face as he stood watching her ogle Seeley. "Like what you see?" he asked softly and without malice. She looked at him, standing in just an undershirt, suspenders and grey slacks. His hair tousled, muscles tight as he leaned against the wall, his hands pulling the suspenders to the middle of his chest. Wendell had deep, bedroom eyes and with that square jaw she was hooked, harder than she'd ever intended in fact, she walked seductively over to him and stood in front of him, putting her hands on his shoulders, she breathed, "Just because a girl does some browsing at the window doesn't mean she's going to purchase the merchandise, I happen to like what I've already got" and she leaned up and kissed him softly before he wrapped his arms around her and said, " Good, because it's only going to get better" and then he spun her around, tapped her on the butt and said, "finish already would you?"

Looking at Seeley, who was now tucking in his shirt and buttoning up he said, "I'm starving, I'm going upstairs, I'll be down in a sec, Seel-you want anything?" he walked past him to the stairs.

"Nah man, I'm good thanks"

"Okay, I'll be back"

As Wendell hurried upstairs Angela came out of the bathroom, fully dressed her hair done and dynamic makeup on. Looking up as he pulled on his vest, Seeley exhaled sharply. He knew that next to Tempe Angela was the prettiest girl he'd ever seen in real life; he just never expected to see her like this. She was beautiful. Her acid green dress was soft and draped her slender figure perfectly, she looked like the dress had been poured over her and then arranged to cover the most pressing bits. She was wearing 4 inch green stiletto heels which would make her just about the same height as Wendell, although, he would still always be bigger than her. Seeley just stared, he moistened his lips and dry swallowed a couple of times, "You look nice Angela, really, reaaaally nice" he finally sputtered.

"This old thing? Eh, it was just lying around" secretly pleased, but knowing that once he saw his Bone Lady she wouldn't even register on his radar she smiled at him her full 100 watt smile. He smiled back but it didn't reach his eyes, he was thinking that Tempe should be getting ready with Angela and they should be giggling and having fun, instead she was out shopping and Angela was getting ready with the Hardy boys in a basement. Shaking his head and reminding himself he only promised an hour, he started to put on the bow tie that matched the vest when Angela spoke up from where she'd sat on Wendell's bed, watching his internal struggle.

"No tie, just the vest, open up the top two buttons on the shirt that looks a lot better."

He looked in the mirror about Wendell's dresser and said, "Are you sure? It seems like that's how I should look at the end of the dance, not the beginning"

"Trust her man, I never thought I'd be wearing suspenders either, but when I get the shirt and jacket on, I feel like Cary Grant" Wendell said, around a mouthful of PB&J.

"That's just gross Wendell" Angela said rolling her eyes at him.

"That's not what you said earlier" he said back, winking and smirking.

"Um, that's enough you two; let's just finish getting ready please?" Seeley didn't like to even think about the kinds of things that went on between them, neither one of them was very conventional. Even though Fischer was his weirdest friend, he'd bet his paycheck that Wendell could out do all of them as far as experience was concerned. The two of them looked at him and then each other and she said, "Okay boys, 10 minutes than I'm leaving without you and you'll be on your own" she said as she grabbed a silk wrap and a small purse and she went upstairs.

Wendell finished his sandwich, brushed his teeth and put his own shirt and jacket on. He had a grey fedora to wear as well. Seeley pulled on the jacket, glad that he'd gone with the French cuffs on the shirt after all. Payton had always said they seemed ridiculous, but he'd always wanted to try them. Putting his black belt on, he snapped the silver belt buckle closed and then checked his face in the bathroom, used a spare toothbrush that Wendell had for him, Fischer had one too, the guys used to come over a lot before recent events and ran his fingers through his short brown hair and then he said, "ready when you are" as he left the bathroom.

Wendell grabbed his wallet and the two of them went upstairs where Angela was waiting by the door, keys in hand ready to take them to the dance. The Aston wasn't built for 2 larger than average high school boys and her, so she was driving the Escalade. Seeley leaned back in the leather seats and wondered what it would be like to live like this all the time. Angela was spoiled, but she didn't flaunt it. Payton's parents were well off, nowhere near Billy, but still not doing bad and she acted like she was the richest girl on the planet. He' always had to work for what he had, as did Pops, and his dad, everyone in his family was blue collar to the core, but he'd never change it. He hoped that Angela and her dad wouldn't change Tempe too much. He was glad that she'd never have to struggle through life, but he couldn't bare it if she became a mini me of Angela. As much as he liked her, he liked Temperance for who she was. Sighing, he leaned his head back and began to count the minutes until he could leave.

All too soon they were at the school and the three of them walked in and took a look around. There were about 50 round tables scattered about, some with small votive candles floating in bowls, some had picture frames with black and white pictures of students in them, some had cameras of their own on them. There were great big silk tapestries hanging from the ceiling that were swaying softly from the breeze of the air conditioners. There was a balloon arch over where the photographer was set up, along with the snowflake imprinted background. Herding the boys over to the photographer, Angela said, "I want a picture with the hottest guys here, let's go" Both boys groaned but went with her, neither wanted to risk her wrath; she'd been amped enough in the car as it was. Standing in between the two of them, she smiled broadly and the two of them got into character as well. They both looked like James Bond stand ins as they stood on either side of her, jackets slung casually over their shoulders and hooked in their fingers. Wendell pulled the hat down rakishly and barely smiled, Seeley smiled what Tempe called his, "I've got a secret" smile and then the photographer raised her head from the camera and said, "I wish there'd been guys like you in school when I went to school"

After she took the picture she told them when it would be ready and Angela told them both that was their Christmas present from her, "If you're lucky, I'll autograph it and then it'll be worth something" she teased as she went to see if her surprise was ready. Wendell knew about it already, he and Fischer had met the band earlier in the day, and we're suitably impressed. For a multi platinum band, they, like Billy were surprisingly down to earth.

Wendell and Booth heard Fischer calling their name and turned to look at him as he crossed the floor. There were very few people there that early, mostly underclassmen and some of the less popular kids. Most of what used to be their crowd, and the majority of their senior class would be showing up over the next hour or so. Both of them turned to Fischer and both laughed right out loud. He was wearing a baby blue tux with black piping, a white ruffled shirt straight out of the 70's, his hair, always unruly was trying vainly to escape from the liberal amount of gel he'd put on it. Looking down, he had on his blue Converse sneakers. He called them his dress shoes and only wore them for special occasions. Alana was wearing a plum, chiffon dress her long dark hair pulled back with a matching headband. She was cute in a freshman kind of way, and it was obvious the two of them had many things in common, fashion outcasts not the least of them.

"What's shakin' bacon?" He asked approaching them "Is everything ready to go?"

"Looks like it, we're just waiting for the rest of them to get here, and then we're a go" Wendell said, constantly watching to see just where Angela was flitting about. She was staying behind the scenes until her big number and he didn't want her to trip over any of the cables or props back there.

Slowly, the room began to fill and Wendell and Seeley went to find a table as Fischer met with Angela and Chelsea to go over what would be happening. Sensing a change in the room dynamic, Seeley turned towards the door just as Payton, Mack, Caroline and Hester entered. Daisy brought up the rear; she apparently had elected to go stag. Payton was wearing a dress that in the past would have been on the floor of Seeley's truck in no time, but now, it just made her look like she was trying too hard. She stared down her nose at everything and acted as if this was just a kid's birthday party, instead of the biggest event of her winter calendar.

Seeley knew that the two of them were on the ballot, he'd even teased Tempe at one time about voting for himself as King, in the end, he voted for Mark. He just hoped against hope that enough people would want her to fail and wouldn't have voted for her. Or him either for that matter, he wasn't interested in being the king of anything unless Temperance was involved. The two of them sat there silently, each lost in separate thoughts of how the night was going to go when the house lights dimmed and Chelsea Cole began to speak into the microphone. Seeley listened to her introduce Fischer and started to get a little apprehensive. He wondered just exactly what they had in store for the night; he'd stopped paying attention to the details about their plans right about the time they'd started planning to do something.

Wendell stood and tapped him on his shoulder, "come on man, its show time" and he reluctantly went up to the stage to pass the baton as it were. Realizing too late that he would have to stand on the stage with her, he was furious. He was going to take this out on Fischer too. He knew that it wasn't a good idea to get them together; after all, he'd just pressed stalking charges against her for crying out loud. Trying to maintain and keep his cool, he stood just slightly behind her and waited for this fresh round of hell to be over. Fischer announced the winners of the junior court and then spent a few minutes creating tension by talking and joking with the crowd. He must have received an invisible signal because he started to announce the winners of the King and Queen and then stopped to clarify with Chelsea. Seeley's stomach dropped, he knew what was going to happen before it did.

Sure enough, when their names were called, he wasn't surprised at all. Payton looked at him with a victorious look on her face, smug; sure it was all a matter of time. She bent down to get the flowers they were giving her, and let Chelsea put the tiara on her head. Starting to put the crown on his head, he stopped her and just held it in his hand, even during the requisite photograph. He would play along for only so long before he would be done and he was just about at that point when the music changed, the lights started to blink rapidly and all of a sudden, Angela was striding across the stage.

Seeley watched her and the crowd's reaction. He was still mad, but knew that she must have something spectacular planned to show up at that exact moment. She joked around with Fischer for a couple of minutes and then addressed the crowd. The longer Seeley listened to what she was saying, the more he was sure that Tempe and Angela were destined to be together just as he and Tempe were meant to be. When she was talking about what Payton had done to her, his blood began to boil again and he was reminded of how much pain and humiliation she caused. Sensing movement to his left, he saw three uniformed police officers come to the edge of the stage and he realized that Angela was going to call Payton out in front of everyone. Feeling somewhat better, when he realized that Payton was trying to escape, he brought himself back to what Angela was saying. He stopped Payton from edging off the stage and told her that it was her turn to pay. Thinking that was it, he was more surprised than anyone when the curtain raised and Three Doors Down and Billy Gibbons were on the stage. He was dumbfounded, and if he'd turned around even just a few seconds later, he would have missed her entrance.

The spotlight shown on the back of the room and at first he wasn't sure what he was seeing was real. It appeared as though Tempe was gliding in on Grayson's arm. When his brain registered that what his eyes were seeing was real, he was finally able to breathe. Temperance was ethereal, already beautiful day in and out, seeing her in the ice blue sheath, her hair and makeup professionally done all he could think of was how lucky he was to have met her on the football field just a little over a month ago. His chest couldn't hold his heart as it swelled when he saw her. His throat was dry and he had to moisten his lips and exhale carefully. He was only half listening to Angela now; his entire focus was on the one girl who'd captured his heart, body and soul.

Angela came over and told him that it was his chance, and he wasn't going to waste it. Tossing the ridiculous crown to the side, he jumped off the stage and hurried to where Grayson had stopped, he reached out to touch her to make sure she was real and then said, "You're beautiful Temperance, just beautiful" he couldn't take his eyes away from hers, he felt everything that he could reflected right back at him. Shyly and softly she said, "So are you." He looked at her for another moment and then pulled her in for a kiss, soft and gently he explored her lips and barely teased her with his tongue, but then the room erupted in cheering and he pulled back slightly and left a chaste kiss on her lips.

"I love you Tempe" he said when their mouths parted, "I'll never let you go"

"Don't ever let me go Seeley, I love you too" she told him, putting her hand on his chest. It burned through his clothes and shot straight to his heart, he didn't know how a simple touch could feel like a brand. He began to sway softly back and forth and she matched his movement with her own, pulling her close, he asked if she wanted to leave, and even though he would have been happy to leave and go spend the rest of the night together alone, he wasn't surprised that she would want to stay. It was her first dance, and he decided that they would make it the best one she'd ever experience. Bending down to kiss her again, Angela broke up the moment and told them they could do that whenever they wanted. Fischer and Alana came up to the group, and looking around, Seeley realized that these were the best friends he was ever likely to have, and no matter how high school had started out, he was glad the way it was ending, he couldn't have chosen a better night to spend with them, or with her. Always with her.


	12. Chapter 76A

Chapter 76A

The 6 friends decided to get their photos taken, so went to stand in line where they were bombarded by congratulations and questions regarding the incident on stage. Temperance hung back behind Angela somewhat, still a little shy around the crush of people. "Sweetie you are so beautiful, I knew you would be, but wow, you really look great!" She told her, holding her at arms length.

"Thanks to you and Michaela and Tamara, I could never have done this myself Ange-and I…I want to thank you for what you said up there. I feel the same way and I'm so glad that I'll be able to be a part of your family for the rest of my life. Thank you too, for what you did for Seeley. I know that there is still going to be a lot to deal with, I mean, you had my biology lab partner arrested so I'm sure they'll be some fallout from that right?" Tempe had a slightly sarcastic smirk on her face and Angela had the good sense to blush, "Well, it felt like the thing to do at the time, I was feeling…puckish" she said trying to defend herself.

"Well, remind me to never make you feel like that!" Tempe told her, reaching up to hug her best friend. It was their turn to get photos, and Angela told the photographer that she'd like a couple different ones and seeing as she was who she was, the photographer agreed, but asked if she would get credit for them if they were published. She didn't want to photograph school dances her whole life after all. "Sure, no problem, I'll see what I can do" Angela winked at her and then taking Tempe's arm, the two of them posed in front of the snowflake background. Their first picture was just the standard pose, they stood back to back and smiled at the camera. The next one the two of them vamped it up a bit and did their best Marilyn Monroe poses, making the guys laugh. They invited Alana up onto the platform & the three of them posed like 'Charlies Angels' and after deciding that was enough of them, they invited the guys up for a group photo. Fischer and Alana lay on the floor and Seeley and Wendell kneeled behind them, the two girls standing in the middle. It was a great shot, their next ones were individuals and then Fischer said, "I'd like one with Tempe please?" Wendell jumped in, and said, "Yeah, me too" so the three of them took their places, Fischer and Wendell kneeling each with a leg up and Tempe sitting in the middle, her elbows on their shoulders. The photographer was gracious and told them all that she appreciated it and was glad they had fun, but she did have a long line to get through, so taking her hint they left the platform to head back to their table.

On the way, Temperance snagged a camera from a vacant table and told Booth to turn around, completely surprising him when he turned she got a great shot of him looking totally natural. "Now, if that turns out, it'll be the kind of picture I'd be happy for everyone to see" she told him, snaking into his arms and looking up at him as they began to find a place to sit. "I'm sure the two of us will have plenty of pictures in our future Bone Lady" he replied, kissing her lips and then to her cheek, slowly trailing kisses to her neck. Groaning softly she said, "Seeley, this isn't the time or the place….ahhh….so" and then he was back to her lips, and said against them, "I know, but now that I can see you and touch you that's all I want to do"

"Well, rein it in Romeo" Fischer said, coming over to them, "I want to dance with the Lady Temperance" and he took her hand. Laughing the two of them walked on to the floor where there was a lively rendition of Cheap Sunglasses being played by the bands on stage. The local guys were in heaven, how often did they get to play with not one, but two Grammy winning artists? They created quite the stir on the dance floor, the two of them tango'ing in a light blue frenzy, Seeley couldn't help but sit back and laugh at the two of them. Turning to Alana he said, "So, is this like a one time deal or is something going on with you two? I mean, don't get me wrong, you seem perfect for each other, he's just a lot to handle sometimes"

Alana picked up her glass of soda and watched them for a moment before answering, "I think that it all depends on what you expect from the other person, I expect him to be out of the ordinary, so I'm better able to handle it when he is, it's when he's normal that I'm a little more concerned." She smiled and tipped her glass to him and he said, "I think we all look at it like that, we wonder what's wrong when he's normal!"

Just then the music slowed and Billy came over to the table and asked Angela if she'd give the dance floor a whirl with her old man. Watching them go out onto the floor and listening to the words of the song that was playing, Wendell thought that it couldn't have been a more perfect time for them to meet. He didn't think that he loved her, not yet, but he was rapidly feeling something different than he'd ever felt for Caroline. He leaned back in his seat and looked at Seeley and asked, "Hey, how do you know when it's…it?"

"When what's it?"

"You know, _it_ it"

"I'm going to take a chance on this conversation and say, I think he means love is it" Alana said interrupting the two of them.

"Oh, I don't know man. With Payton, I thought I was in love because I always had a date, and had sex all the time. But if the two of us weren't in the same room, I never thought about her, it was like, I'd see her and then be her boyfriend and love her, but then when she left, I was Seeley and she was Payton. With Temperance, every thought I have revolves around her. Whether she's in the room or not, I think of her. Wait, that sounds kind of stalkerish, what I mean is, she just became a part of me, I think that's what 'it' is and it feels like that's what love should be, and you know, this is a weird a$$ conversation to be having with you right now, so can we maybe chill on all the 'cum baya' stuff Bray?"

Wendell laughed and said, "ya, didn't mean to go all warm and fuzzy on you man"

"I for one thought it was fascinating" Alana said, "I just thought you guys sat around and grunted, scratched occasionally maybe, it was really pretty interesting."

Angela came back as did Fischer and Tempe who had both stayed out to do a rather energetic box step to the slow song, feeling off kilter like she did around Fischer always made her smile. He so reminded her of her brother and she felt closer to him every time they interacted. Delivering her to Seeley, he put his arm out to Alana and said, "Milady? Would thouest liketh to danceth?"

Giggling she said, "Thou wouldth" and the two of them left to see what kind of havoc they could wreak on the dance floor. Angela sat in Wendells lap and drank the rest of his water, "That was fun, I like dancing with my dad" she said, her eyes on him fondly as he and the two guitarists up on stage were playing together. Seeley only had eyes for Tempe, she too sat in his lap and watched the rest of them dance. He was running his finger up her bare arm and said quietly, "are you having fun little one?"

She looked at him, her face slightly flushed and her eyes bright, "I'm having so much fun Seeley, I'm glad that I came. What about you? You want to dance?" she didn't want him to sit at the table all night, but maybe he couldn't dance either? Acting up with Fischer didn't take any skill and she wasn't embarrassed, with him it was expected, but she hadn't danced other than a slow one with Seeley and that was it.

"No, I'm fine, maybe the next slow one? For now, I'm happy to just sit here and watch, look at you, that's all I need, you thirsty? Would you like something besides water?" he asked, suddenly realizing that he hadn't offered her anything.

"Yeah, there's water in my bag back stage, if you want it" Angela said slightly jerking her head towards the back, "The bag is in the corner, I mean, I doubt if anyone else is back there, maybe you two could go get a couple for the rest of us too?" she had her eyebrows arched and was trying to communicate with Tempe something, not picking up on the verbal innuendo, she said, "Okay, yeah, I'll be right back"

Seeley picked up on it right away and said, "Let's both go back there Bone Lady, we'll be right back" he helped her stand and then stood himself, "give us a few minutes okay?"

Wendell snorted and nodded, "Take all the time you need man, we'll be fine right here" and waved them off, slightly chuckling and wrapping his arms around Angela. The two of them took off and he said under his breath, "A little obvious were you?" She looked at him in mock shock and said, "I don't know what you mean Mr. Bray, I just thought they'd like some cold water" she couldn't hide the grin though when he said, "I'm sure they will afterwards if nothing else" and he leaned up and kissed her. "Let's dance kid" he said as he helped her up and walked her to the floor.


	13. Chapter 76B

CHAPTER 76B

Carefully making their way backstage with Seeley leading the way, they were on the lookout for stray cables and discarded props. The glow from the lights on the stage was sufficient only to shroud everything in murky shadows. The band wasn't as loud as Tempe expected them to be back here, and for that she was grateful. Looking carefully, Seeley found Angela's bag lying up against a fake mountain top used in the drama clubs rendition of the "Sound of Music". He started to reach in to grab the waters when she let go of his hand and stepped closer to his back and softly ran her hands up underneath his jacket and then laid her head on his back. He stood straight up and reached back to touch her. Slowly she inched her hands around his waist and splayed them on his flat stomach. Quickly, he spun around and faced her, taking her by surprise, he leaned down and kissed her softly. Slowly he tickled the inside of her lip with his tongue, barely increasing the pressure on her mouth, he gently explored her mouth and she his. He gently moved from her lips to her jaw line then to her neck where he nipped slightly and then soothed the sting with a feather soft kiss. He whispered so quietly that the actual words were almost lost, "you look wonderful tonight Temperance, so very beautiful and I'm so glad that you are here." Her breath hitched slightly on the exhale and she smiled like a cat in a bird cage and turned to capture his lips again with hers.

The two of them stood pressed against each other, lost in each other's mouths and the freedom they had to explore when she stepped back slightly and looked at him, her eyes half lidded and her mouth slightly swollen and said, "I'm so glad that you tried to talk to me that first day Seeley, I can't believe this is happening to me at all, but I'm so happy that it is and that you're here with me." She smiled that heart melting smile and his smile matched hers. Slowly he reached up to touch her face and traced it with his finger, "I don't know about you, but being alone, in the dark, it's kinda perfect don't you think?" his voice was husky and she knew exactly how he felt, and would love nothing more than to act on it, but there was still a little selfish part of her that wanted to enjoy the dance a little bit more. Still, Tempe liked to tease him as much as she could, so she leaned into him slowly and licked her bottom lip and looked up to him under her lashes. "You mean, it's perfect for this?" as she stroked a darkly painted finger nail down his chest, she also reached out and wrapped her hand around the back of his neck.

Shuddering with the force of her nail on his chest, he licked his own lip and said haltingly, "Yes, for that" he leaned in to kiss her again and she ducked out his way slightly, giving him an impish grin she said, "hold on, let's not get to carried away, after all, we have all night right?" Nodding because he didn't trust himself to speak without his voice cracking she continued to whisper quietly to him, as she traced her finger around his stomach, up his chest, down his arm and then to the sensitive skin on his neck. He turned his head to try to kiss her hand and she quickly moved it. Standing this close to him, she could tell what her presence was doing to him physically and knew she had to act quickly, before he would stop letting her torture him. "Close your eyes Seeley" she told him quietly and he complied. Slowly she backed away, grabbed the water and hurried out from the darkened stage area.

She went straight to the table and put the waters down and was giggling when Fischer said, "That sounds somewhat like the "I've done something naughty" giggle of the North American Girlfriend." He looked over at her and raised his eyebrow and nodded as if to ask if he was right. She started to protest and then just burst into laughter again, "I'm sorry, it was just so perfect, I couldn't resist, do you think he'll be mad?" she was suddenly worried that she may have gone too far in her tease when she felt him come up behind her and he dipped down to her ear and said, "Very funny Temperance, and no, I'm not mad, but I will get even" and he nipped her earlobe before standing back up to move to sit next to her, a slow song came on and she turned with a smile and said, "Will a dance make up for it?" he grinned at her and said, "Yeah, that's a start" and he offered her his hand. Just as they started to head to the dance floor, Billy came up and said, "Temperance, I would like to request the honor of this dance, if Mr. Booth here doesn't mind?" he cocked his eyebrow. Booth's mouth went dry and he said, "No, no I don't mind" and he relinquished her hand to him.

Billy escorted her to the dance floor and said softly, "Are you having fun?" she smiled at him as he twirled her in his arms, and said, "Yes, thank you so much, I'm so glad you came for me, I'll never be able to tell you how much this all means to me"

"You're smile is more than enough thanks for me pretty girl, just keep smiling and I'll be a happy man."

The two of them danced the entire dance and then he put his sunglasses back on and said, "I think one more song, then I'm going to take my tired Texas bones home, Angela call when you leave, and if you stay out all night, I want to know where, okay dear girl?" he said as Angela and Wendell met them at the table.

"Okay daddy, thank you" she said, "I'll call Grayson if we need a ride."

"No drinking tonight, your little sister is with you, try to be a good influence" he told her in a mock gruff, but still very serious voice. He leaned over and kissed first her cheek and then Temperance's, and flashing the peace sign at the guys he headed up to the stage. He spoke quickly to the lead guitarist and then the lights flared up and the music started banging out a very popular ZZ top song, he and Brad leaned in to the lead mike and started singing, "I got to have a shot of what you got is oh so sweet.  
You got to make it hot, like a boomerang I need a repeat,Gimme all your lovin', all your hugs and kisses too,Gimme all your lovin', don't let up until we're through,"

The dance floor broke wide open as everyone headed to the floor to start dancing to the rousing song, and bringing up the rear were the six friends, the girls broke away and started dancing side by side, the guys opposite them. All three of the guys were fixated on their girls, who were really getting into the pounding guitar solos and rocking with the music. Booth never realized just how sexy Temperance was when she just let herself go, and let the music take over. Billy finished up the solo ending and then thanked the kids for having him and left the stage, the band started up with a medley of some of their ballads and Seeley pulled Tempe close. "You really know how to drive a guy wild, you know that?" he was holding her close and looking into her eyes.

"I don't know what you are talking about" she said, all pretend innocence and wide eyes. Quirking his upper lip at her, he spun her around at the same time that Wendell and Angela spun back and Wendell addressed the group at large, "So, what's the plan after this?" there were some general murmurings of things to do and then Temperance said, "I have something, but you guys might think it's dumb" she blushed, not really sure what made her think of it, but in her mind it seemed pretty romantic and something she'd like to share with Seeley. Seeing that she was embarrassed at the thought of whatever her idea was, Seeley said, "What is it Bone Lady?"

"Well" she said, "Zack told me that the planetarium is having a midnight star party tonight, and it's free, and well it could be fun?" she trailed off at the blank looks they were all giving her.

"What is a midnight star party?" Fischer asked skeptically.

She took a deep breath, "Well, they open up the auditorium and move all the seats out of it and then they turn on the stars on the ceiling and you can see the constellations, and stars forming and they play music. I've heard it's really quite pretty. There are shooting stars and such, and it's all indoors…" she stopped speaking, thinking to herself, they all think I'm such a dork.

Alana was the first to speak and she said in a breathy voice, "Oh that sounds so cool, and so romantic, it'll be like lying under the stars except it'll be warm!"

Angela joined her; she too thought it was incredibly romantic, "I think that's a great idea! I never would have thought of that Temper"

Seeing that they were already half way there, the guys looked at each other and shrugging their shoulders and nodding, they all agreed that the midnight party at the planetarium was a great way to end the night. Seeley was actually looking forward to it, he'd get to her hold her in his arms, just like in his dreams, and even though he was 100% guy, lying under the stars with the girl of your dreams was pretty romantic.

They stayed at the dance for another couple of hours, switching partners so that everyone danced with everyone, and had a really good time. Angela had gone up and re-introduced the members of Three Doors Down and thanked them for coming around 11:30 and then she went back to their table where they were starting to gather up their things, the dance was still going fairly strong, but the guys had to get back on the bus, they had a show, so the house band was going to finish out the night. Grabbing her bag, she went to the table and said, "Are we all ready?"

Everyone agreed that they were ready to leave the dance, so the 6 of them took one last candid shot of them and then Alana pocketed the camera into her little clutch purse and they left to go to the planetarium. Angela had the Escalade, and even let Wendell drive it as they all went to lay under the stars and make wishes on the shooting stars.


	14. Chapter 76C

Chapter 76C ALT VERSION STILL PRETTY VANILLA BUT ENJOY ANYWAY.

The girls sat up front and in the back row of seats, leaving Fischer and Seeley to scrunch in the cargo area. Both of them were sitting with their backs to the side of the SUV and their legs bent at the knee and on either side of each other. Alana and Temperance could not stop giggling at their twin expressions of disgust. Every time Tempe thought she was calmed down from the laughing and she would turn to look at him, she'd start laughing all over again, which in turn would start Alana on another jag. "I'm so glad you are enjoying this Lady A, but I must say, if I had to choose which one of my bros's to have between my knees it would be the Seel man." Fischer said in his haughtiest voice. Which made them all laugh including Angela, who while she sat up front was studying the profile of Wendell as he drove.

Snorting, Seeley said, "Thank you Colin, really, I appreciate that, and you'll never know how much it means to me right here" he stopped and fist bumped his own chest, "but, I never want this mentioned again and if I ever hear that I was between your knees you'll walk with a limp for the rest of your life" he finished this up with a wry twist to his mouth which sent Tempe into fresh histrionics. She was doing her best to keep the tears of laughter from running her mascara and finally gave up the attempt when she heard Wendell trying to muffle his own laughter. For her part, Angela just sighed and wondered how it was she ended up in a car full of kids, and she was the oldest one there. Usually she was the youngest by far and a fake ID was all she needed. With this group, she thought she might need something a little stronger. Like a night light or diaper bag. Shaking her head at the mental image that formed she laughed a little herself and took Wendell's free hand in hers. Younger than her or not, she liked the guy and she wanted to see just how advanced he was for his age.

Wendell pulled up in front of the Planetarium and then after opening the door for Angela, he opened the side doors for both Alana and Temperance and then closed the doors, he then winked at Angela and said, "Watch this" and keyed the lock function on the key ring. All three girls smiled and they started to walk with him, Tempe and Angela linked on his left arm and Alana on his right. They didn't get very far until the pounding and yelling came from the truck. Turning around slowly he could see that his 'bro's' were not amused. Unlocking the truck, he remote raised the hatch and they slowly climbed out. Stalking towards him, he ducked behind the girls and said quietly, "Bail me out ladies". Tempe and Alana looked at each other slyly and then started to walk very seductively towards the two of them intercepting their forward progress. Alana grabbed Fischer's hand and started to pretend tango with him, which he joined in very enthusiastically. Tempe on the other hand, put her finger on Booths chest and when he stopped, dragged it towards his belt buckle, "Hold it right there Mr. Booth, you can't go any further unless you get past me, can you do that?"

Looking down at the expression on her face, he wrapped her into his arms and lifted her clear off the ground and then set her off to the side. Astonished she squealed when he put her down, "HEY!" as he continued to walk towards Wendell. He stopped and looked over his shoulder at her and winked. Tempe decided two could play this game, so she crossed her arms over her chest and turned her nose up in the air, while she tapped her foot in annoyance. With a look of chagrin Seeley came back to her and attempted to make her smile, when she didn't acknowledge him, he took a page out of Fischer's book and sank to one knee and with an exaggerated motion and bad Irish accent said, "Lady Temperance, I know that I've offended ya, and I'm truly sorry, wouldest thou favor me with an apology, and maybe a kiss?" Smiling at him while his friends and hers stood around and laughed, she put one hand out and he took her palm and brought it to his lips. Barely brushing the inside of her hand with his lips, she fought hard not to fall over when he slowly kissed his way up her palm to the inside of her wrist. His mouth was softer than a butterfly on a leaf and she was seeing black spots in front of her eyes, when he resumed kissing her palm, this time very lightly tracing the lines with his tongue. Booth looked up to see that she was staring at him, her eyes wide with desire and she was starting to sway, he reached up and grabbed her waist and then pulled himself up until he was standing very close and whispering said, "Am I forgiven?" Since she was experience white lightening heat shooting to her very core, she simply nodded.

"Oh for crying out loud, get a room" Angela said coming back over to rescue her friend.

"Got one handy?" Seeley asked only half joking.

"Yeah, about a dozen of them my horny little friend but you aren't going to see them at all unless you get a move on and we go inside, its freezing and my assets don't like being frozen if you catch my meaning?"

Seeley laughed and he and Tempe followed the other four to the front doors of the planetarium. Most of the people entering were dressed a lot less casually than the 6 of them, but they all had the same thing in common, they were all part of a couple. Tempe was holding Seeley's hand as they walked in, and for the first time, she felt…normal. She didn't feel like anyone was questioning why she was there, wondering who she was with or anything. Granted they were all strangers but as defining moments go, she felt it was pretty important.

When they entered the building they followed the glow in the dark stars stuck to the floor to the main auditorium, which was very dimly lit. It was a large cavernous room, 5 stories high and rounded at the top. All of the seats had been removed and there were very large star and moon shaped cushions scattered all over the floor. Most people were settling in towards the middle, which is where Fischer and Alana, Wendell and Angela headed. "Aren't you coming?" Angela asked, already knowing the answer.

"I think we'll sit over here Ange, we don't have to do everything together you know" Seeley said, starting to head towards the edge and a cushion. Angela dropped Wendell's hand and marched over to him and said with her finger in his face, "Seeley Booth, my little sister better leave here in the same condition she entered, you got that?" she turned to waggle her finger in Tempe's face too, "I mean it Sister, no hanky panky" Tempe took her finger and carefully bent in back towards Angela and said really quietly, "If I promise to tell you all the gory details will you leave us alone?" Angela's eyebrows raised and she nodded quickly and said, "Of course" and then winked and smiled as she went back to where Wendell had staked out a cushion of their own.

Seeley pulled the cushion, which was roughly the size of a loveseat up to the wall and was able to bend it enough that there was room to sit on it as well as lean up against it. Helping her to sit down carefully without messing up her dress, he said quietly, "it's like the first time we sat down under the trees, when your knee was hurt. I was so afraid I was going to hurt you." She thought back to that day and said, "Yeah, but you didn't you were pretty gentlemanly" and she leaned up against his side, her hand on his chest and her head on his shoulder. "Are you cold?" he asked her feeling a little tremor, "Just a little" she said as he sat up and took his jacket off and then draped it over her. She felt like he'd pulled her inside his soul, the jacket was so warm from his body and his cologne gently wafted around her. Sighing deeply she snuggled closer to his side and looked around the room as it continued to fill. "Have you ever been here before?" he asked, looking himself. He recognized some kids that had graduated in previous years and just faces you get to know after living in the same place so long.

"I've been to the planetarium before, just never to a star show. I'm kind of a dork about this stuff, so I've been to just about all the museums, libraries, and stuff like that that Pittsburgh has to offer. I'm really excited though, it's supposed to be really pretty." She looked up and grinned at the look on his face, "What?" she asked.

"It's just you get so animated about this stuff, it's cute." He told her.

"Baby ducks are cute" she told him somewhat stiffly.

"And so are you when you go all sciency on me, I like it little one, don't get upset, I bet it's like when I'm watching a Flyers game, Pops and Jared tell me I'm a total hockey geek and it shows when my team is playing, we all do it. I bet Angela drools like a St. Bernard when she's in a shoe store, and I know that Bray is like that when he's messing around with cars and anything with an engine. Fischer, well, he drools just to drool. I think." He chucked her under the chin softly and bent to capture her lips, "I'm not making fun of you, I'm really looking forward to this too" she kissed him back and then sighed softly and said, "me too."

The lights in the room suddenly went out thrusting the room into pitch blackness, a couple of girls squealed and there was some masculine chuckling, Tempe tensed and Seeley held her close. He inhaled the sweet scent of her shampoo and pulled her in a little tighter. The stars started to appear all around them and there was some soft music playing as well. The stars started to move around the ceiling panel and dance on the walls. People were softly murmuring and pointing out constellations, as well as gasping as stars were formed and shot across the sky. Tempe pointed out her favorite constellation, Delphinus and told him that it was her mom's favorite too. He recognized the slight sadness in her voice and said, "You miss them"

"Yeah, I'd like to know what happened, maybe someday I will" she said

"Someday you will Little One" he told her kissing her forehead.

She smiled and held his hand tighter under the jacket. Listening to the soft music, hearing his heart beat and smelling his cologne, the warmth of their bodies, she was starting to feel quite relaxed. The atmosphere was incredibly romantic and most of the murmuring had stopped as couples all around them just relaxed and stared at the sky.

Seeley loved the feeling of her in his arms, and was completely content to just lay here and hold her while they stared at the ceiling. "Seeley?" She asked him quietly.

"Yes, little one"

"I was wondering, um…well, do you have to go home tonight?" she asked, glad for the darkness of the room, to hide her blush.

"No, but I'm going to. I'm spending the night at Wendell's house tonight. Why?"

He knew why, but he wanted her to say it. He could feel the dynamic shifting as well as feel himself responding to her nearness. She'd been absently tracing patterns on his stomach and chest and it was starting to arouse more than just comfort in him. "I thought maybe you'd want to come home with me tonight?" she couldn't believe she was asking him this, it was technically only her second night in the home and already she was inviting her boyfriend over.

His voice throaty with the desire that built with every touch, he said, "As much as I would love to, I'd like to live to see tomorrow and I think I should maybe get a little more familiar with Billy before I spend the night in his new daughter's room" he told her ruefully. Although, if he could figure out a way, he'd sneak her into his room in a heartbeat, truth be told. He felt her shift slightly and said; "are you uncomfortable?" he stared to move and looked down at her.

"No, I just wanted to move my arm a little bit and I wanted better access"

"Better access?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

"Better access" She told him as she leaned down and kissed his chest. He tensed, his breath released on a very slow exhale. "What are you doing?" he said between clenched teeth.

"I'm getting gory details to tell Angela" she told him, as she pulled his head down and kissed him hard. Her tongue entered his mouth and took complete control. She'd never kissed him like that before and at first, he wasn't sure what to do, then nature took over and he responded, nipping her bottom lip and enthusiastically kissing her back. He reached across his body and hers and pulled the jacket up a little higher and slowly traced her collarbone with his finger, lingering on her bare shoulder and caressing down to her breast, which he gently cupped. She inhaled and slowed the kiss down and arched into his hand. His thumb gently grazed her nipple, which even through the material of the dress was hardening into a little pearl. Seeley slid his hand under her dress and continued to roll her engorged nipple between his finger and thumb, as well as gently caressing the underside of her full breast with his hand.

Tempe sighed again and tried to get comfortable. Her dress, although beautiful to look at was not conducive to making out in, they were both rapidly finding out. Unable to get comfortable and begging for him to have more access, Tempe tried a different tact. She lightly took Seeley's hand and removed it from her ample cleavage and told him to lie back a little. "Why did you make me stop?" he asked, unsure if she was ready for anything or not.

"I know that you can't get the access you and I both want with this dress, and unfortunately for you and the 50 other people in here, I'm not taking it off, so I have a better idea?" she told him in a conspiratorial whisper. "What better idea? I liked feeling you up" he said shamelessly.

"Oh, I think you'll like this even better…but you'll have to be quiet, can you be really quiet Seeley?" she whispered, her voice throaty and her breath a hot caress on his skin. "I can try" he said, excited to see what she was going to do. He didn't want to push her into anything, but he knew that she was anxious to explore her burgeoning sexuality and he was more than willing to let her explore with him. She winked at him and told him to concentrate on the stars and he leaned even further back as she slid her hand down under the coat to his belt buckle, where she stopped for a brief second before sliding her hand further down the inside of his thigh. She could feel the heat from his body that had pooled in his boxers and slowly she brought her hand up to the granite hard bulge between his legs. She grazed his length with her palm and then through his pants, cupped his balls slightly. Seeley exhaled through his teeth and swallowed hard at her light touch. She slid down his body slightly, and then brought her hand back up his inner leg to the belt buckle. She unbuckled it and unbuttoned his pants in the same movement. He was surprised at her dexterity and she was a little shocked at how easy it was to do also. Excruciatingly slow she unzipped his pants and pushed them off of his hips slightly. Looking up, she said, "Are you okay?" Seeley simply couldn't say anything, eyes closed, he nodded.

Blushing slightly, she continued her gentle exploration. Sliding her hand inside the fly of his pants, she could feel his penis throbbing, she reached into his boxers and very softly grasped him with her full hand. Lighter than a whisper, she trailed her hand down his velvet shaft from the head to the base, and then she lightly cupped his balls and felt how hard they were. She was surprised to feel that they were also quite large as was his cock. The scientist part of her knew that meant something, but the girl part was rapidly learning to appreciate them for another reason altogether. Slowly, she brought her hand back to the tip and felt the thick moisture that was there, using that to reduce the friction, she slid her hand back down, grasping tighter at the base and slowly releasing pressure as she reached the head. Seeley was trying hard not to groan out loud, her very hesitation made the sensation of her hand on his cock ten times harder to bear. Grateful for the cover of their position and the darkness of the room, she slid down even further and then when her mouth was close enough, she gently flicked her tongue over the slit at the very top of his head and tasted the silky liquid. She moved over him and took the tip of his dick into her mouth and gently applied suction, carefully grazing his glans with her teeth. Tempe continued moving her hand slowly up and down his shaft, slowly and then faster, alternating a soft grip with her hand and then a firmer one.

Seeley was slowly losing any control that he had. He forced his eyes open and looked around, no one was watching them, so he must only be groaning in his mind. He couldn't believe the exquisite torture that this was, her hand so soft, sure and strong was stroking him from the bottom of his cock to the tip, where she stroked his head with her thumb before moving back down, her hand in a rhythm now that threatened to wreck his thoughts. She would stop her long, slow stroke and move back to his balls, lightly squeeze, tracing them with her finger nail, which made him tense and take small breaths. When she moved her hand back and held him tight in her fist, he encircled her hand with hers and then helped her to start the rhythm back up, watching him as his hand was over hers, she could see the strain on his features and she smiled slightly before she leaned over and took him as far into her mouth as she could, bucking his hips in utter surprise, Seeley moaned quietly as she slowly brought her mouth back to his head and sucked lightly, before resuming her light stroking motion. This time, she didn't stop, in fact she increased her stroke and could feel that he was ready to climax and she slowed her hand down and his hips bucked again. He opened his eyes, and looked down at her and saw that she was enjoying this as much as he was, her tongue stole out to lick her bottom lip and he mouthed, "Come up here" she slid up towards his mouth, keeping her hand on his slick cock. Capturing her mouth with his, he kissed her hard and then softer before pulling back slowly and saying in a broken whisper, "if you don't stop, I'm going to come Tempe" she leaned over and increased her motion and whispered, "I'm not going to stop Seeley" and just as she breathed the last syllable of his name, he exploded in her hand. She felt the warmth of him fill her hand, and she continued to milk him slower as he clenched his hands into fists and bit his own tongue to keep from calling out her name. She relished the feel of his hot, silky liquid in her hand and on his hard dick as she stroked the last of the tremors from his body.

Tempe moved her hand out of his boxer shorts and carefully wiped her hand on the inside of his shorts which made him giggle when he could get his breathing under control. "Guess I'm not getting the deposit back on this tux huh?" he said quietly as she smiled and tried not to laugh. Reaching down, he pulled his pants back up and buckled his belt, just as the lights started to come back on in the room. He checked to make sure there was nothing on his pants and then helped her to stand. Holding her close he kissed her lips, then trailed kisses to her collarbone and said, "You didn't have to do that Tempe."

"You told me once to stop telling you what you had to do and didn't have to do Seeley, I know I didn't have to do anything, I wanted to do that and so I did, okay?" He looked at her and then said suggestively, "Okay, but remember that what goes around, comes around"

"Oh, I'm counting on it" She told him with a smirk, while helping him to put his coat on, "Now, let's go see what else we can get into tonight Big Man" and she took his hand, and walked over to where their friends were gathered. Tempe would have given anything for this night to never end, so was hoping someone would have an idea of what to do next. Still trembling from her boldness and both of their responses, she was afraid to be alone with him, she didn't think she'd be able to resist, but she wasn't able to let him go yet either.


	15. Chapter 77

CHAPTER 77

The six of them exited the planetarium around 1:30 in the morning, and headed straight for the car, where Wendell started it immediately and they all got in to warm up. "That was so totally cool" Alana said, "I've never seen anything like that."

"Me either" Fischer said, for once awed in response to the outside world. He'd held Alana close the entire show and it was nice. He and Daisy would have been going at it like rabbits but Alana was actually more interested in looking at the stars and he found that it was really pretty cool to watch. They'd spent most of the time in a companionable silence. Occasionally commenting on a constellation or explosion but mostly just watching.

"I thought it was very entertaining…" Wendell said with a wink at Angela. The two of them had spent most of the time exploring their own little universe and were both thinking the same thing about the rest of the night. However, Angela knew that there was no way he was going to spend the night without Booth, and unless she and Tempe both wanted to be in the orphanage tomorrow, they were going to be on their best behavior. "I agree, but I'm pretty hungry, anyone else?" she said.

"Actually, I have to go home; I have a 2AM curfew." Alana said regretfully. "I'm sorry Fischer"

"It's okay babe, maybe you can do something tomorrow?" he asked and her eyes lit up, "Yeah, if I'm home by 2 I can probably do something"

"Well, then step on it my good man" he said to Wendell, waving haughtily with his hand that he should start to drive, "I've got to get this lass home, so take us to the school Jeeves." He continued.

"Why don't I drop her off and then you don't have to leave from the school dipstick?" Wendell said.

"Ahhh...another reason why I keep you around boy, carry on"

Nothing fazed Fischer; he simply didn't believe that they were serious. Everyone laughed and Wendell started to drive. "I could eat too" Tempe said, yawning a little. This was a late night for her, and after a week of nearly sleepless nights, she didn't want to miss anything, but she also didn't want to be so tired that she couldn't do anything tomorrow either. "You wanna go home Temper?" Angela asked, seeing the yawn.

"No, I'm hungry and I'm game to stay out as long as you guys want to. I wish you could too Alana," she said, turning to her.

"It's okay, I'm just glad that I got to go out at all! I had so much fun and I can't wait to see the pictures." They all started talking about the pictures and the dance and the star show as they drove. Seeley was the only one that was quiet; he was holding Tempe's hand over the back of the seat as he and Fischer were both jammed up in the back. He was wishing the two of them could go be alone somewhere, but he'd also seen the yawn and knew she wasn't going to be able to hold out much later. Stroking the back of her hand with his thumb while she chattered with Angela and Alana, he was thinking of their night under the stars. It was definitely different than any night he'd ever spent with Payton. All of a sudden, he thought of the future. He felt cold all of a sudden when he realized that he was going to be walking away from her in 7 months. Seeley thought about what that could feel like. How is it that in the short time they'd been together, they'd seemed to live a thousand lifetimes and soon real life would begin. For him anyway, he'd be going to the Army, she'd have two years of high school left and then college. He couldn't make her wait, he couldn't ask her to wait either. What if she met someone else? He didn't know why he was thinking of all these things right now, he was making himself miserable, for no good reason. Here it was a perfect night, he was with his friends, his beautiful girlfriend and he was worried about telling her goodbye. He must have squeezed her hand a little because she looked over at him and smiled, letting Alana and Angela carry on the conversation. "Hi" she said quietly, licking her bottom lip.

Booth took her small hand in both of his and kissed it, "Hi, right back atcha babe"

"How you holding up back there?" she asked.

"Well I'll be better when I can stretch my legs a little and I'm a little hungry, what about you? You want to go home to sleep? I don't mind" he told her quietly.

"No, I don't want this night to ever end!" she was suddenly unsure of their position. Maybe she'd gone too far?

"Are you mad at me?" she asked him timidly.

"No, why would I be mad at you?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"Well, I didn't know, after, well you know, I didn't know"

"No, 'you know' was perfect and I'm not mad at you at all for that. In fact, I'd like to make it up to you, but it's not the right time or place" he smiled and winked and she relaxed. Winking back at him, she rejoined the conversation up front where Angela was telling Alana how she had met the guys of Three Doors Down. Wendell interrupted her just long enough to ask Alana how to get to her house. Once they arrived, Fischer walked her to the door, and he kissed her hand and then gave a chaste kiss to her cheek. "I'll call you tomorrow fair lady" he said bowing low. Alana laughed and curtsied back and then went inside after waving to her friends. Fischer ran back to the truck to jump into her vacated seat when he was cleverly thwarted by Seeley climbing over the back seat. He and Temperance were seated primly on the back seat when Wendell raised the back hatch again encouraging Fischer to climb on in. Pouting slightly, he climbed into the back and then carefully maneuvered himself so he was leaning on the seat, facing front.

"If I get pulled over, you're paying the ticket Fisch man" Wendell told him, looking in the rearview.

"There's enough space up here Fischer, you can sit up here with me and Seeley" Temperance said, sliding into the middle slot. "There are three seat belts"

Fischer started to climb over the seat himself and Temperance was hurriedly pulled into Seeley's lap to avoid a foot to the face as he clumsily climbed. Sitting down, he put his hands up and faked like he was sticking a landing in the Olympics. Angela raised an eyebrow and put up three fingers.

"3? All I get is a 3?" he said indignantly, "that was at least a 5 dismount if nothing else, and I totally stuck the landing" he told her. Laughing, Temperance said, "I think it was definitely a 5 Fischer"

He leaned over and took her hand, bringing it to his mouth, he kissed the back of it and said, "Well, now we know a good judge when we see one" and winked at Angela. Wendell started driving and said, "Where are we going to eat kids?"

"Let's just go to the diner" Seeley said, "It's open and it's going to be totally empty this time of night"

They all agreed the diner was the best place so Wendell took off back towards the middle of town. Driving there, Wendell turned up the radio and they all were singing along when Seeley felt the vibration of his phone, looking down it was Pops. Motioning to Wendell to turn the radio down, he answered the phone, "Hey Pops, what's up?"

"Seeley where are you?" Pops said his tone was worried and yet there were traces of anger as well.

"I'm with Bray and Fisch and the girls, we're going to eat, what's wrong Pops? Is it Jared?" he was instantly concerned, one that his grandpa was calling him at 2 in the morning and two that something may have happened to his little brother.

"Seeley come home now" his Pops told him, not answering his question, Seeley mouthed to Wendell to pull over.

"Pops, what's going on, is Jared okay?"

"Jared is fine Seeley; you need to come home now. I'm not going to tell you again, in fact, are you driving?"

"No, Wendell has Angela's dad's car, we're in it. My truck is at Wendell's house. Pops, why do I need to come home?" he asked, Temperance took his hand in hers and held it tight. The truck was silent except for the tick of the engine as it cooled; they were all watching his side of the obviously tense conversation.

"Seeley, the police are here. They want to talk to you about Payton. Her father is here too. Please come home now." Booth's heart fell into his stomach. "What do they want Pops? I haven't done anything" he was trying hard to keep the scared little boy from coming out in his voice, but wasn't very successful. He had no idea what the cops would want with him.

"Seeley Joseph Booth, come home now. That is not a request" Pops was done playing nice, he wasn't sure what or the cops were up to, and he didn't think that Seeley had done anything wrong, but he wasn't going to do this over the phone. He was responsible for this boy, even though he was 18 and was technically an adult; he was still in school and living under his roof.

"Okay Pops, I'm on my way" he told him and hung up. Silently he stared at the closed phone and sighed. "Seeley, what is it?" Tempe asked her hand in his and her other hand on his arm. "What happened, is everyone okay?"

"The police are at my house with Col. Perotta" he told them. "I have to go home Wendell, can someone bring my truck home?"

"Yeah, man, I'll get it" Fisch said, he and Wendell shared a look and then Angela spoke, "I'll call Pam, don't worry Booth, we won't leave your side tonight"

"Wendell, take me to your house and Fisch can get my truck and then we'll take the girls home and you and Fischer can come with me"

Angela and Temperance both began to protest and Wendell said, "Okay man, whatever you want" as he started the truck back up. Angela wasn't having any of it, "Oh no, that b!tch doesn't get to do this Seeley, she doesn't get to win. I'm calling my lawyer and I'm going to your house and there isn't anything you can do about it" she was furious.

"Angie" Wendell said quietly but with steel strength, "Let it go-we'll be better able to help tomorrow, for now, let's just get you and Tempe home"

"I'm not going anywhere" Temperance said, her arms crossed over her chest. "I don't care what you do, Angela knows where Seeley lives, we'll just come back, and you can't stop us."

Seeley was still trying to wrap his brain around everything and wasn't really thinking when he said, "Temperance, I don't want you there, okay? Just go home" he turned and looked out the window and exhaled hard. Fischer sensing there may be some more fallout wasn't sure how to react. Tempe on the other hand, just leaned away from him and said, "Wendell, how much further is it to go to the school?"

"About 2 minutes, why?"

"Please drop me and Angela off there, Fischer give us your keys"

Fischer handed Angela the keys to his car and said, "What do you have in mind?"

"I'm going home and so is Angela" she said stiffly, now as far away from Seeley as she could get without actually sitting in Fischer's lap. Shaking his head at his friends and how immature they were all acting considering no one knew what was going on he said, "Okay, everyone let's just calm down. Seeley apologize to Tempe. Tempe, you and Angela need to go home and get some rest, I'll bring Fischer and Seeley back over once we get things straightened out at Seeley's house. No one needs to go storming off and doing anything rash or go out like the wounded hero."

He pulled up to the school and turned around in his seat, "Fischer, follow me to my house, get Booth's truck and then we'll go to the girls, then the three of us will take Booth to his house, okay?"

Just then Tempe reached around Fischer and opened the door, quickly she jumped out, barely avoiding tearing her dress in the process. Angela followed her giving Wendell a look of apology and heading to Fischer's car. Tempe had taken off her shoes and was moving much faster than Angela was, but Seeley was still able to catch her. "What the hell are you doing Tempe?" he yelled, grabbing her by her arm.

"Let me go Seeley Booth, you made it quite clear you don't want me around, you don't need my help and I do want to go home after all."

"You're being ridiculous you know that, we have had a wonderful night, magical and now…this, I mean... I don't even know what THIS is but on top of it, I have to worry about you too? Thanks a lot Tempe, thanks" he was mad and scared and lashing out although against his nature was so much easier than trying to rationalize what was really going through both of their minds.

Angela came up and stood behind Tempe and gently grabbing her arms turned her around, "Honey, we'll go home, we'll get a little sleep and we'll see Seeley and the guys in the morning, he's right, let's just go home" she could see how hurt they both were and just couldn't understand why all of this was happening tonight of all nights.

"You're right Angela, let's go" She turned and walked to Fischer's car and got in as soon as Angela unlocked the door. "Tempe, TEMPE!" Seeley yelled walking towards the car.

"Dude, just stop, okay? Don't make it worse, let's just go, will get this all straightened out and then we'll talk to the girls" Fischer grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop as Angela pulled the car out of the driveway and they left without a backwards glance to the three of them.


	16. Chapter 77A

Chapter 77A

"Temper, what the hell? What are you doing?" Angela was furious, she was trying to get her phone out and drive and talk to Tempe all at the same time. "Angela, I just want to go home long enough to change, and then we're heading right over to his house and then wherever he goes from there, who are you calling?" She turned to see Angela dialing her phone, holding up one finger, Angela began to speak, "Pam? Hi honey, I'm so sorry to call you so early in the morning, but we need you. No, not me or Tempe, it's Seeley…yeah, the cops are at his house, I guess Payton and her dad are there too…okay, not that I know of..sure…yeah, I can do that, okay…no…yeah, that's it. Okay, 20 minutes? Great thank you Pam" she hung up after making sure she knew how to get there and said to Tempe, "Now you want to be with him? I don't get it Temper, what game are you playing? I mean, I get it, you're new to this whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing, but you're not new to the whole, "act like a human being and show some compassion thing" are you?"

"Angela it dawned on me when I got in the car that this is his way of protecting me, it's a defense mechanism. He does it with Jared too. It's so clear that he thinks I'm too fragile to deal with any of this stuff and he doesn't want to see me dragged further in. Well, I'm not fragile, and I don't need to be protected anymore. That's why I want to change clothes, and then we'll head over there. If you don't want to go, I'll call Zack" she told her, her voice was calm and determined.

"Well, it's about time one of you stopped being so damn stubborn, you don't need to call Zack, and I'm going too. Here text Bray and tell him Pam is on her way and for Booth to keep his big mouth shut until she gets there" She handed Tempe her phone and dragged her eyes back to the road. "I am hungry though, we are so grabbing something to eat while we drive back over there" she mumbled under her breath. Tempe sat there in silence and then all of a sudden she grabbed for her own bag, "Angela, I have an idea"

"What Sweetie?"

Tempe didn't answer, instead she dialed a number in her phone, letting it ring a couple of times, she started 'pick up, pick up' under her breath. Finally a deep sleepy voice said, "'lo?"

"Z-man?"

"Who dat?"

"Zack, wake up, it's Tempe."

Suddenly alert, Zack sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. Looking at his alarm clock he wondered what the hell had happened that she would call him at 2:30 in the morning. Yawning again, he spoke into the phone, "Are you okay Temperance?"

"Zack, do you remember when you told me that if I ever needed anything to call you? That you'd help me no matter what?"

"Yes, Tempe, what's wrong?"

"Zack, I need you. Actually, Seeley needs you and your dad. Would he be mad if you asked him to meet us at Seeley's house in like 30 minutes?" She was shaking, not sure that Zack would help her like this, but she had to try.

"My dad? Is Seeley in trouble?"

"Yes Zack, I don't know all the details, but it has something to do with Payton. The cops are at his house, her dad is there, and we're on our way there too as soon as we change, in fact, we just got to the house. Zack, I would never have asked if this wasn't important to me. Please?"

Sighing Zack leaned back against his headboard and closed his eyes. Hearing her ask him for help was bad enough, but then to follow it up with it was for him. Being friends with this girl was going to be the hardest thing he'd ever had to do, and yet, he couldn't say no. "I'll go talk to him, what's Seeley's address?" Since she'd never been there, she handed the phone to Angela and told her to tell him where Seeley lived. When Angela was done speaking, Tempe took the phone back and said, "Zack, thank you. I know that this isn't what you had in mind, but thank you."

"You're welcome Tempe, I'll text you if it's a go" and he hung up. Standing up, the shorts he wore to bed hanging loosely on his slim hips, he stretched and put on a t-shirt before padding down to his parents' room. Knocking and getting permission to enter from his mom, he woke his dad and outlined what was going down and asked him to help.

Angela, meanwhile said, "Why did you call Zack? Seeley doesn't want the guy secretly in love with his girlfriend to come riding to the rescue Tempe" they got out of Fischer's car and headed into the house to change. Going into their joint rooms, Tempe told her who his dad was as she changed into a pair of jeans, his football jersey and hoody. Going into the bathroom, she washed her hands and pulled the tiara and pins out of her hair, causing it to fall down around her head in a brunette cloud of curls. Angela came into the bathroom one shoe on and one shoe off. "You're kidding me? Really? Wow. I had no idea. That will definitely help out" just then Tempe's cell phone vibrated and she looked and it said, "Dad will be there in 20 minutes Z-man" Tempe held the phone out to Angela and they both smiled, Angela said, "Let's grab a snack and hit the road, it's going to be a long day I can tell!"

~~~meanwhile~~~

Wendell drove them back to his house to get Seeley's truck and on the way they both laid into him. "What are you thinking man? You push her away and then pull her back in and then push her away again. Jesus, when are you going to grow up?" Fischer shook his head, "You don't deserve her" he told his best friend.

"I don't want her to go through this s*** anymore!" he exploded at them. "You guys don't get it, do you? She needs me to protect her, she has NO ONE. She was abandoned by the three people that were supposed to love her the most, and then shoved into places where no one loved her. She doesn't think that she's worth loving, and I'm supposed to be the one to protect her. I know that. I've felt that since the first time I looked into her eyes and saw how hurt she was. The problem is, I didn't protect her. All I did was make her life worse! I let Payton stalk her and threaten her and did nothing. I can't keep letting Tempe get hurt; she's going to be hurt bad enough when I leave. I have to protect her." He stopped talking and was looking out the window.

Wendell looked into the rearview mirror at his friend and said sarcastically, "Are you serious with this crap Seeley? She's got you, us, Angela and her whole army, all of us on her side. This isn't a comic book; you aren't the 'Dark Avenger' for crying out loud. Yeah, Payton really screwed her, but I think she's come out on the other side okay. Your problem is that you keep treating her like some porcelain doll and have her set on this impossible pedestal. Tempe is stronger than you give her credit for and you can't accept that, so you spout off, make her mad and then you can come swooping in. You said you were afraid that she would leave you for Zack, and yet, you keep pushing her away! Grow up man, quit acting like she's going to break and quit treating her like an object and start treating her as the girl that loves you or you will lose her" he turned his attention back to the road fully and shook his head. "Most guys only dream about what you have, and yet you don't even realize it." he said under his breath.

Pulling up in front of his house Wendell said he was going to go change, and Seeley and Fischer said they would too. Heading inside, Wendell got a text, "PAM ON HER WAY, DON'T LET SEELEY SPEAK UNTIL SHE GETS THERE~ANGEL~" He showed the text to Fischer as Seeley changed and then Fischer and Seeley got into the Explorer. Wendell still had the Escalade, he wasn't sure he should leave it, Grayson wouldn't appreciate that he was betting. The two trucks headed over to Seeley's house in the pre-dawn hours, both silent inside, everyone lost in their own thoughts. Pulling up in front of the house, Seeley saw an unfamiliar black Mercedes parked outside, along with a very familiar black four runner. Zack got out of the car at the same time that Pam got out of hers.

"What are you doing here Addy?" Wendell stepped in front of Zack and tried to keep Seeley in his line of sight as well.

"Tempe called me and asked me to see if my dad could meet everyone here. I understand that 5.0 is staked out in there and she thought you might need some help, hello Pam" he said, as she walked up to the group of boys. "Hello Zack, did I hear you right? Your dad is here?"

"Yes, he's in the truck on the phone clearing his schedule for the morning" he nodded towards the truck. At the time that a silver haired man came out of the passenger seat, dressed nattily in a pair of charcoal slacks, a grey sweater and white shirt. Even at 3 AM he was impressive. A squealing of breaks signaled the arrival of the rest of the "Seeley Booth Fan Club". They all turned to see Angela and Temperance getting out of Fischer's car. "I'm going to bronze that thing" he said half to himself and half out loud. Angela was wearing skin tight pink jeans, a black zip up hoodie and black sneakers. Tempe was dressed a lot more casually, but the two of them were just plain beautiful. "Temperance, what are you doing here?" Seeley asked, sighing and rejoicing at the same time.

"I wouldn't be anywhere else Seeley, you're done pushing me away, and I'm done walking away, either you accept me as your partner as well as your girlfriend, or you don't. What's it going to be?" She was defiant and was standing right in his face. The rest of the crowd gathered outside all tried to look in every direction but the direction they wanted to. "I want you beside me Tempe, not in front, not behind. Thank you." He told her taking her into his arms. Looking at the rest of them, he said, "Let's get this thing going I guess" he and Tempe led the group, Pam and Zack's dad were next, followed closely by Fischer and Zack, bringing up the rear were Wendell and Angela. As Seeley held the door open for everyone to troop in, Wendell stopped and took Angela into his arms, "I'm glad you're here kid, he's gonna need us all, thanks for bringing her back." He leaned to kiss her and she kissed him back, "I didn't bring her, she brought me, as well as the Supreme Court Judge and his son" she winked and took his hand and followed them all in to see what Col. Perotta had on his side of the ring, because right now, Seeley's side was loaded.


	17. Chapter 77B

Chapter 77B

Upon entering the house, Seeley was immediately flanked by Jared and Pops, as they ushered him into the large living room. Seated, Colonel Perotta stood as did Payton; two officers were also seated in there and stood as well. Seeley's entourage was standing behind him, with the exception of Pam and Judge Addy. The blonde detective flashed her badge and introduced herself as Detective Kate Lockley, turning to her uniformed partner, a slight man with dark hair and blue eyes, he was Officer Doyle.

Stepping up to introduce herself to the officers, Pam introduced the Judge to them as well. She let them know that she was Seeley's lawyer, and surreptitiously handed her business card to Hank at the same time. Tempe was watching the introductions and was pleased to see the quickly covered look of shock on the Colonels face as Judge Addy was introduced as a personal friend. Taking the reins Pam asked Detective Lockley, "So, why were we all called out at 2 o'clock in the morning detective, is Mr. Booth under arrest?"

"Not yet, we really just had some questions for him and thought he'd be more comfortable here than at the station house." She was completely floored. In her opinion this whole thing was a waste of department resources, but the Colonel made a lot of noise when he was summoned to pick up his daughter. So to keep the powers that be happy, she offered to come talk to Seeley at his home rather than drag them all back to the station. Reading through the case file as Officer Doyle drove; she found that it seemed pretty straight forward to her. The girl was stalking them, mailed some incriminating pictures and got caught. However, her dad felt like there was more to the story and that's why they were all there.

She hurriedly hid her smirk when all 8 of them filed in; she knew one of the girls from some publicity photos in the break room at her office and knew that she had to be the one behind calling a high powered celebrity lawyer, not to mention the Judge himself. She was going to thoroughly enjoy this question and answer session. "Miss Noonan, do you mind if I ask Mr. Booth some questions?"

"I have no problem with that, but I'd like it to go on record that when I feel he has answered enough questions, the interrogation will be over." She said in a clipped and lawyerly tone.

"No problems from me. Colonel Perotta, is that okay with you?" Detective Lockley turned to the older man.

"Detective Lockley, as long as we can get to the bottom of this right now, I have no problems with that." He told her, wondering how it was that Seeley Booth had not only a personal lawyer, but was friends with a Supreme Court Justice. Just then, Judge Addy turned toward the assembled teenagers behind Seeley and asked if there was somewhere they could all go, it would be best if just the people concerned were in the room. Hank said they could all go upstairs and hang out in the boy's rooms; he would stay in the living room with Seeley. The judge thought that was a good idea, so Jared and the rest of them trouped upstairs. Just before she turned to follow the group, Temperance leaned up and gave Seeley a kiss on the lips, whispering against them softly, "I love you" and then releasing his hand, she grabbed Angela's and went upstairs.

Seeley did his best to hide his smile at the look of outrage on Payton's face, and then decided he didn't care what she thought. Sitting down next to his Grandfather, the rest of them resumed sitting as well. Hank asked everyone if they would like a drink or anything, but they all declined. He was nervous as this was very reminiscent of the late night police calls that he participated in shortly before taking the boys away from their father's house. Seeley had been through so much up until then, he'd thought they put all that drama behind them. He'd warned Seeley about getting so serious with Payton so young, there was always something predatory about the girl, she was smiling and bubbly around him and Jared whenever she had come over, but it always seemed like she was forcing it was just a little too much. He trusted his boys, he knew that whatever was going on would soon come into the light.

Detective Lockley leaned forward and started a tabletop recorder, and then addressed Seeley, "Mr. Booth, you are not under arrest at this time, we will just be asking you a few questions, and I have not read you your rights at this time. Do you agree to answer our questions without having had your rights read to you?"

Seeley looked at Pam and the judge, and they both nodded so he said, "Sure, and you can call me Seeley, Mr. Booth was my father." Squeezing his Grandson's leg to discourage future cheeky responses Hank also leaned forward. Although comfortable for blowing up aliens or playing mock rock concerts, this couch was very uncomfortable for him to sit in for long periods.

"Seeley, do you know why we've come here?" Detective Lockley asked him, taking out a pad and pencil. She was going to start off easy.

"To be honest, no. I'm not really sure why you are here Detective." He told her.

"I'm here tonight Seeley, because Ms. Perotta states that you assaulted her. She states that she told you she was not interested in seeing you anymore, and you told her quote, "Don't push me Payton-you watch it-I've got things on you as well, things that I'm sure the Col and his wife would never want to hear about their lily pure daughter Payton Joy. You think I'm just this big dumb jock that is just going to roll over and let you hold me hostage, guess again princess…you don't scare me"

Shocked, Hank looked at his grandson, and enraged Colonel Perotta sat forward in his seat, luckily Officer Doyle was there to make sure there was no altercation. Seeley sucked in his breath and then looking directly at the detective said, "Did she tell you that I said that to her after she tricked my girlfriend into going behind the gym where she pushed her and verbally assaulted her before a football pep rally?" he responded. "She and her two friends Caroline and Daisy put a note on her locker that was supposedly from me, and it told her to meet 'me' behind the gym to give me my football jersey for the game. However, when she got there, they took the jersey from her and told her that she could stop, "making a nuisance of herself and that since I had gotten Payton pregnant I was going to be in her life for the rest of mine and that Temperance should just get used to it." He loved watching the color drain from both Payton and her father's faces.

Turning to his daughter, Colonel Perotta said angrily, "You're pregnant Payton Joy?" Payton looked back and forth from her dad to Seeley and then said quietly, "no."

"Did you get rid of the baby?" her dad asked. He was appalled, he knew that she would no more do that than she would steal or cheat on a test.

"Yeah, Payton, did you get rid of our baby?" Seeley asked sarcastically.

Biding her time, Payton was trying to come up with a convincing story when Judge Addy said, "You might as well tell the truth young lady, it only gets deeper when you keep shoveling it out."

Swallowing hard, she looked at her hands and spoke to them, "I was never pregnant"

"I'm sorry Payton, I didn't hear that" Detective Lockley said, "Would you speak up a little?"

Looking up and sighing in frustration she said louder, "I was never pregnant."

Seeley couldn't help but smirk, he could see where this was all going even if she couldn't, and he decided he didn't care that she looked like her perfectly crafted lifestyle was crumbling around her ears. Leaning back, he put his arms over his chest and his lips twitched in a wry smile as he caught Pam's wink.

"So you told both Seeley and Tempe that you were pregnant?" Detective Lockley said, "To what end?"

"I thought if he thought I was pregnant he would break up with her." She told her.

"And did he?" Kate asked the despondent debutante.

"No, he didn't" she responded dully.

Turning to Seeley, Detective Lockley said, "Seeley, I have here that you assaulted Payton at a party the night of the football game, can you explain that?"

"Are you referring to the picture of her and me kissing rather vehemently against the wall in the basement of Mack's house?" he asked.

"Yes, I believe that's where it took place." Kate said checking her notes.

"Well, actually I can't explain anything, because I was drugged that night. You can ask Wendell and Fischer, both of them will tell you that I was completely out of it, and if you ask Roxie about spiking my drink, she will most likely tell you that Caroline told her to do it. I have nothing but vague memories of that night, although there is photographic evidence of it, I've seen it."

"In the pictures that Payton allegedly had taken and distributed to you and Tempe and her foster parents?" She asked.

"Yes, those, plus the text message that was sent to me and Angela Montenegro showing the same picture, Payton sent it to me, and Daisy sent it to Angela." Seeley loved that he had the upper hand right now and with everything he said Payton just got more and more worried.

Raising her eyebrow, Detective Lockley wrote something on her pad and then asked, "Do you still have that text Seeley?"

"Oh yes, I do." He said.

"For the record" Pam interrupted, "I also have a copy of the text that Miss Montenegro received as well as a hard copy of it in the file."

"Thank you Miss Noonan" she told her, trying not to grin herself. This was turning into a cake walk.

"Just a couple of more questions Seeley, I'm sorry to have to ask you questions of a sensitive nature, but in lieu of the current situation and concerns raised by the Colonel, I do have to ask, when did you and Payton become sexually active?"

Blushing and looking at his Grandpa, who nodded for him to continue, he said, "Our sophomore year, well late freshman actually."

"How old were you?"

"I was 15 my first time" he said.

"How old was Payton?"

"I don't know to be honest, I wasn't her first" he said.

"This is ridiculous!" Payton shouted, "What does this have to do with anything?" she demanded.

"Payton, you filed assault charges against Seeley, indicating that he abused you and that he took advantage of you on more than one occasion, I have to ask what his side of things is before I just arbitrarily arrest him. You and your father both agreed to allow me to question him slightly before taking him to the station, did you not?" Kate asked her.

"Yes, we agreed to that, but you're twisting it around so that he's coming out like a hero and I sound like a crazy shrew!" she whined. Twisting her hands in her lap, she looked at her dad, tears threatening to spill over her heavily made up lashes, but after Seeley's response he was looking at her like he'd never seen her before.

Turning back to Seeley, Detective Lockley said, "Okay Seeley, did you think that you had gotten Payton pregnant?"

"No" he said firmly.

"Why not?"

"Because I never had sex with her without protection and she was already sleeping with Mack when I broke up with her. So, if she was pregnant, the odds were better that it was his than mine. Now, can I ask a question?"

Writing his response down, she looked up and said, "Go ahead."

"Am I under arrest because my ex girlfriend stalked me and current girlfriend, tried to blackmail me and my friend and threatened to assault my girlfriend on more than one occasion, because, I don't see that I've done anything wrong here."

Looking at her notes, Kate said, "You aren't under arrest Seeley, and it's obvious some of our information is a little lost in translation, just one more question, then I think we'll be done. Did you at any time tell Payton that she owed you anything, or that she was going to be rewarded for anything?"

"Like if she and I had sex I'd take her to prom?" he asked back.

"Yes, did you promise her something, anything for sex?"

Snorting he laughed slightly and said, "No, I didn't, in fact the first time we had sex together, she told me that if I just stopped chickening out, she'd make sure I was the happiest guy in school."

Colonel Perotta stood up and said, "That's it, were done here. Payton get in the car. Detective Lockley, Officer Doyle, we'll be rescinding our request to press charges against Seeley." Turning to look at Hank he continued, "Mr. Booth, I'm sorry that we brought this into your home so early in the morning, and I'm sorry that my daughter accused your Grandson of atrocities he clearly did not commit. Seeley, I'm sorry son, I had no idea." He stood and shook Hank's hand, as well as the Judges' and Pam's. "I'm sorry too that you both were called out needlessly, please accept my apologies." He nodded at the room and then followed Payton out to their car. He was seeing her in a whole new light, and he would be dammed if she was going to keep up this pretense. She was going to pay for her mistakes, he would see to it. There was no way she was going to away with false accusations, not to mention the charges against her, which at first he thought were totally fabricated, but as the morning wore on, he saw they were entirely too easy to believe she did those horrible things.

Watching the two of them leave, Detective Lockley said, "I'm sorry that we had to ruin your evening Seeley, Mr. Booth, thank you for your patience." Turning to Pam and the judge she said, "I'm sure we'll be hearing this all again when her case comes up so I'll have my notes to you in the next couple of days."

Shaking her hand Pam said, "Thank you Detective, I'll let you know what we intend to do"

They nodded and she and Officer Doyle saw themselves out. "Well Seeley, you handled yourself real well" Pam said, "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and try to go back to sleep, Judge Addy, would you like a ride home?"

Knowing that Zack had left after he'd gotten out, he said, "Yes Pam that would be great. Mr. Booth, it was a pleasure to meet you, Seeley you were very impressive young man, you kept your cool and presented very clear and thought out answers. I see a career in law enforcement in your future son. Zack has told me good things about you as well, it's always a pleasure to see a youngster that isn't disrespectful and thoughtless" he clapped him on the shoulder and then left with Pam.

Hank looked at Seeley and pulled him in for a hug. "You did good kid. I'm real proud of you. Of course, I was blindsided by all of this, and for that you and I are going to sit down and have a real long talk. But for now, why don't you go upstairs, its awful quiet up there. If everyone is asleep, there are spare blankets in the hall, just cover 'em up and let him lie, we'll worry about the sleeping arrangements later in the day okay?" he smiled up at his Grandson and winked.

"Okay Pops, thank you and I'm sorry." He told him leaning down to hug him.

"There's nothing to be sorry for son, nothing at all." Seeley watched his Grandpa go and make sure the front door was locked and then followed him up the stairs, when he'd gone into his own room; Seeley peaked into Jared's room. There was no one in there but he could see a dim light under the door to his room, and he carefully pushed open the door. The light on his desk was the only light on, and everyone was sound asleep. Jared was asleep on the floor; he had his head resting on Seeley's hockey bag and was covered in his robe. Fischer was asleep in the desk chair, his head cocked back and his feet on the edge of the bed lightly resting on Tempe's legs. His blanket was a jacket worn backwards. The image that brought the big grin to his face though was the one of Wendell spooning Angela who was spooning Tempe on his bed. They looked like Russian nesting dolls. Wendell's arms protectively wrapped around Angela sound asleep and Angela was holding Tempe tightly as well.

Walking silently over to Fischer Seeley put his hand over his mouth and shook him slightly, Fischer's eyes flew open and he looked around disorientated until he realized it was Booth's hand over his mouth. Flicking his tongue out he licked his palm.

Jerking his hand back Seeley smacked him on the head and said in a quiet whisper, "Dude that's frickin' gross" Laughing silently Fischer licked his lips heartily. "Move your feet I'm going to move Tempe into Jared's room, you can use the sleeping bag in my closet, because I don't think Bray would like to wake up in an Angela sandwich"

Fischer carefully lifted his feet off of her legs and then stood. Then he danced around as carefully as his big frame would let him complaining that his feet were asleep. Shaking his head in exasperation, Seeley went over to the side of the bed that Tempe was on and carefully reached over to move Angela's hand. She cracked one eye and he winked and put a finger up to his lips to tell her to keep silent. She removed her arms and Tempe stirred slightly. Taking that chance, he reached under her and picked her up in one smooth lift. She leaned her head on his shoulder and snuggled slightly up to him as Angela closed her eye and snuggled back into Wendell.

Seeley carried Tempe past Fischer and whispered to get a blanket from the closet for the two on the bed and then he took her into Jared's room and lightly set her down on the blanket. She barely moved, just curled up slightly. Feeling pressure in his chest like a hundred pound weight, he went out of the room just long enough to find a few extra blankets. Throwing them over Jared and helping Fischer put one on Wendell and Angela; he fist bumped Fischer as he began to unroll the sleeping bag. He turned the desk light off as he left the room and took the one blanket he had left into Jared's room.

He kicked his shoes off and climbed into the bed behind Tempe, pulling the blanket over the two of them, she sighed in her sleep and turned to hug him. "Oh Seeley" she said quietly, still lost in sleep. He smiled and smoothed her hair and then kissed her forehead, "I love you Tempe" he whispered before closing his own eyes and falling asleep, his girl in his arms.


	18. Chapter 77C

CHAPTER 77C

After hugging him and kissing him softly, Temperance and the rest of the group went upstairs. Jared asked if they wanted to go to his room or Seeley's and after some good natured ribbing from Wendell on the condition of his room, they agreed that Seeley's was the best choice.

"What do you think is going on down there?" Jared asked the room at large, clearly worried about his brother.

"Don't worry about it Little Booth, your big brother is gonna be fine, see, even if the coppers take 'em in see, we're gonna bust him out, we're gonna make a plan see, they won't take me, they'll never take me" Fischer said in a bad 1940's gangster imitation.

"Fischer?" Angela asked.

"Yes, lovely lady"

"Did your mother have any kids that lived?"

All of them laughed at that as they found places to settle in and sit. Angela and Wendell claimed the bed, along with Tempe. "So, here's my plan" Fischer said as he rummaged around through desk drawers and the book shelf. "As soon as I find the cards, we'll play a little poker, now, to be fair ladies, the guys and me will remove our shirts to start off with and then we'll play a hand and let you catch up okay?" he turned holding a deck of cards and a box of dominoes.

"yeah, that's going to happen" Angela said, "You have as much a chance of seeing my Victoria's secrets as I do of becoming the Prime Minister of Sesame Street"

"Well, how about strip dominoes then?" he asked, completely oblivious.

Wendell threw a book at him that was by the bed, "Come on Fisch, quit acting like the degenerate that you are." He looked over at Tempe who was staring at the door and hadn't said a word since they had come in.

"Tempe? Are you okay hon?" he asked, sliding around Angela to sit behind her.

Looking over her shoulder at him she smiled, "I'm okay, just wondering what else that troll is going to do. I'm a little mad too, we were all having such a great night and then this happens. I'm beginning to think that I'm bad luck for you all!" smiling but not really meaning it, she looked back to the door, pulling her knees up to her chest. Wendell put his hand on her back and said, "Tempe, none of this is your fault. You can't take the blame. This is all Payton and no one else. We're all very glad we met you, you and Ange, and Alana, hell even Zack is pretty cool. Me and Fisch and Booth are way better because of you, don't forget that okay?"

She leaned back and smiled at Wendell and said, "You aren't going to kiss me now are you?" Laughing he pushed her slightly and said, "You wish." Just then there was a sob from the chair that Fischer was sitting on. Wiping his eyes and snorting he said, "That was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard Wendell, you're a true poet man, a poet." Tempe got off the bed and walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him and said, "Fischer I love you the best, but don't tell Seeley or Angela okay?" she kissed him on the forehead and he blushed scarlet.

Jared laughed and said, "You guys are nuts."

Tempe wandered around the room and saw the picture of Seeley and his dad on his desk. "Jared, is this your dad?" she asked him. Coming over to look over her shoulder he picked up the picture and looked at it, "Yeah, he was a pilot in the Army, this was taken when he was doing a simulator run, Seeley must have only been 6 or 7." He told her putting the picture back down. Sensing his reluctance to talk about their dad, she looked at other pictures. There was an older one tucked into the corner of the cork board, small and weathered slightly, it was a gap toothed Seeley holding a small baby in his lap. Grinning at the camera he was obviously proud of the bundle in his arms. "Angela-look at this picture of Jared and Seeley isn't it cute?" she said taking it over to show her. "Awww…look at them, you guys were so cute" she said looking up at Jared and handing the picture back to Tempe.

"Were?" Jared said, "I'm still cute."

"Well, for Booth light you're not too bad" she winked and smiled at him which just made him blush. Tempe continued to look around the room and found another surprising picture in the corner of the mirror above his dresser. It was a picture of her, standing with Angela and Max in the museum entry, she was looking up at the second floor, the sun shining through the large windows and it looked like she was glowing. Taking it off the mirror, she saw that it said, "Angela, Max and my girl" on the back, she turned it back over and looked again at it and wondered who even took it. Thinking to herself, I've got to hire someone to stop people from taking my picture without me knowing it.

Done with her casual snooping she went back to the bed, "So, now what do we do?" she asked looking around. Jared said, "Um, well, I've got Uno in my room, the Xbox is downstairs so we can't play that, but if you guys want?" he stopped, realizing that these guys and girls would probably think he was just a dorky little kid.

"Uno? Cool" Wendell said, "I'll play."

"Me too, it's a fun game" Tempe said.

"Strip Uno?" Fischer said perking up and looking around. "I'll play"

Angela walked over and smacked him on the head, "Fischer, you would play strip Go Fish wouldn't you?"

"Well, that's just plain ridiculous Angela, you can't strip to that!" he told her rolling his eyes. Jared took that opportunity to go into his room and get the cards, bringing them back in, they all started to play. Complaining good naturedly when they each lost a hand, until one by one they all started to get that glazed sleepy look that comes with being awake for over 18 hours. Yawning, Tempe stood and stretched and said, "I'm going to crash, sorry guys; I can't stay awake any longer." She pointed to Jared who was practically comatose against the hockey bag and said, "Jared honey, I think you can put your cards down now" he dropped them and closed his eyes. Picking up the cards, Angela agreed, "Yeah, I'm beat. Let's just crash, I'm sure we'll know soon enough what's going on down there, I mean, they haven't arrested him yet, so it's still looking pretty good right?" she put the cards down on the desk and then went to use the restroom across the hall.

Tempe came out of the room and tried edging towards the end of the hallway to see if she could hear anything and Angela spun her around, patted her on the butt and sent her back into Seeley's room. When she came back in, Jared was passed out and they had thrown Seeley's robe over him. Turning off the overhead light, Angela turned on the desk light and climbed onto the bed behind Tempe and realized that her friend was crying slightly. Reaching out to hold her, she and Tempe dozed off. Wendell and Fischer both used the restroom and came back in and Fischer took in the scene on the bed and said quietly, "Now that's a sandwich I" and Wendell cut him off with a hard grip to his arm, "Finish that sentence and I'll throw you through the window" Fischer smiled grimly rubbing his arm and pulled the chair close to the bed. Grabbing a discarded jacket, he settled down as Wendell climbed onto the bed behind Angela. She sighed as he put his arms around her and he smiled as he kissed the back of her neck and then closed his own eyes.

Not knowing how much time had passed, Tempe wasn't even aware when Seeley picked her up and started to take her to his room. Angela woke up and opened one eye and just smiled when he told her to be quiet. She'd heard him and Fischer scuffling and appreciated the blanket that they'd found.

Tempe felt like she was floating and didn't know why. She wanted to open her eyes, but they were so heavy, it was just easier to allow her body to float. She felt safe, and warm it seemed there was a heating element behind her and she snuggled back against it. Thinking of him, she sighed quietly, "Oh Seeley." Barely hearing the "I love you" he whispered back, she was lost in thoughts of him and someday and sleep.


	19. Chapter 78

Chapter 78

Temperance woke to the feel of his hand on her stomach, his thumb rasping lightly over her sensitive skin. Her back was molded to his front and she was incredibly warm, he was solid and unyielding, his muscular body built for athleticism and strength, but laying down, she felt where his strength gave way to velvet steel. Tempe arched her back slightly and stretched big all the way down to her toes. She made a little mewling sound and then settled back down into his arms.

"If you do that again, my brother's bed is going to get more action that it was ever designed for" he whispered into her hair. When she stretched, he'd tried to pull his groin back from her as far as he could without actually moving. He knew that that particular morning problem wouldn't be the best good morning she could get right now. Smiling at him, she slid over onto her back and looked up at him, wrapping her arm around his shoulder and fingering the hair that was now so short it barely curled around his ear. He propped himself up on one arm, looking down at her, his other arm curled up and his hand slowly stroking her hair. "How'd you sleep little one?" he said softly, his eyes roaming her face.

"I slept wonderfully." She sighed, "I could get used to waking up like this." When he leaned in to kiss her she smiled and reached up to meet him halfway. The soft kiss started out slowly, and intensified as their tongues met. Closing her eyes she sighed slightly when he increased the pressure of his chest on hers and moved his supporting arm behind her head. Lost in the kiss and each other's presence, neither one of them heard Jared clearing his throat in the doorway, trying a different approach he said, "Hey, get a room!"

Pulling reluctantly away from her and looking over his shoulder with a death glare Seeley said, "We have one thanks, just come back later to make up the room please" and turned back to Tempe with a wink. Smiling up at him, she looked between his arms at Jared and said, "Do you have a continental breakfast?"

Jared scowled and said, "Get out of my bed Seeley, Pops wants everyone downstairs." He walked in and opened up the blinds causing the room to be bathed in a bright Sunday morning glow. Seeley rolled off the bed and pulled Tempe with him. Walking back to his room he said over his shoulder, "It's not like your bed gets any other action Jared, you should be happier." Jared threw a shoe at him as they left laughing. They met Wendell and Angela in the hall, both of them looking like they could use another couple of hours of sleep. Yawning loudly and stretching Wendell said, "Man, I hope I don't have to work today. I could totally sleep for another few hours" he rubbed his sleep tousled hair and caused it to stand on end. "Well, as much as I would like that too, I have some things to do today and first and foremost is getting something to eat!" Angela said, her hair and makeup disheveled but still movie star glamorous.

Tempe's stomach rumbled at that exact moment and putting her hands over her stomach she said, "I think I'm with you on that one!" They started to go downstairs when Seeley said, "Where's Fischer?" Wendell looked back into the room and saw him still propped in the chair, mouth open and eyes closed, hands resting lightly on the arms of the chair. They went in and woke him up and he yawned and then said, "I was dreaming of pirates and cereal. What do you think that means?" he asked, standing and wincing from the stiffness of his body. Sleeping upright in a chair for a few hours was not the best way to get any rest in his opinion.

"I think that means you shouldn't eat Marshmallow Mateys for dinner" Tempe said, knowing that he and Alana shared a bag of them before the dance. "Perhaps you are correct Lady Temperance," he said, "What say you and I venture downstairs to see what delights await us." He linked his arm in hers and the two of them led the rest downstairs. "Don't tarry now all," he said, and then winking down at her he whispered, "Youth is wasted on the young." Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he loudly announced, "We have arrived, now where's our grub?"

Hank came out of the kitchen eyebrow arched, wiping his hands on a towel tucked into his waistband. "Colin Fischer, how would you like to be on dish duty?" Blushing Fischer said, "No thank you sir, I'm sorry."

"I've already called your mom Colin, as well as your parents Wendell to let them know you all stayed here tonight. I would have called your dad Angela, but I don't have his phone number. If you and Temperance are going to be permanent fixtures here, I'd like to have a contact number for him, and would ask that you give him mine as well, if you don't mind? I like to know that I can contact parents of Jared and Seeley's friends should I need to." Hank said, going back into the kitchen, the group of sleepy and hungry teenagers following him.

"No problem Sir," Angela said, and she took the pen and pad of paper Seeley handed her and began to write furiously. "I don't think he needs a phone book Ange" Wendell said, watching her continue to put numbers down. "Well, it's better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them" she said without looking up. There was a beat of silence and then they all laughed uproariously. "Okay Mom" Fischer said, a twinkle in his eye. Angela looked up and flipped him the bird and then handed the pad back to Seeley. Hank looked it over and thanked her, and handed his phone number to program into her phone as well. "Thank you, this is very…thorough" he told her. "Now, I've made pancakes, eggs and bacon, there's juice in the fridge and a little bit of milk, I'm afraid we only have one gallon, so guys, go easy on it, okay?" he told them starting to bring the dishes to the large dining room table.

The kids each grabbed something to bring as well and soon they were all seated around the table, chatting, laughing and passing platters of food. Tempe dug right in and loaded up her plate. Looking over at the mound of eggs and pancakes, Seeley pointed at it with his fork and said, around a mouthful of food "You gonna eat all that Temp?"

"Yep, being around you all there's no telling when I'll be able to eat again!"she told him taking a large bite and smacking her lips as she chewed. Laughing he winked and dug into his own plate. Soon the only sounds were forks scraping plates and the muffled noises of eating a hearty breakfast. Hank pushed away from the table and said, "So, what's the plan for the day? Anyone know?"

"I thought I'd take Tempe to Zams and we could go skating if she didn't have any other plans?" Seeley said, realizing almost too late that he hadn't thought to ask her if she even wanted to go or not. "What about church Seeley?" Hank said.

"Well, I went to Wednesday Mass Pops, I'm good" he said. "So, what do you say Tempe? You want to go skating?"

Feeling somewhat on the spot, she did want to go skating, but she would have rather gone to her new home and explored somewhat. She said, "Yeah, I'd like that, but I kinda wanted to hang out at the house and get used to it a little" Tempe didn't want to hurt his feelings, but she wanted to be a homebody today. "Oh…well, that's okay, I guess I can go in to work anyway, maybe some other time" he said, clearly upset. "Geez Big Man, get a grip" Angela said, "Come over, you can hang out with us there too. Stop being such a baby." She winked at him to soften the comment, but also to remind him not to be so melodramatic.

"Yeah, you still have to meet Billy anyway." Tempe said, grabbing another glass of juice and spoonful of eggs. "Oh, that should be loads of fun" he told her, "Not one, but both of his daughters spent the night at my house, and both of them with their boyfriends. In bed. I'm sure he's just dying to meet me" only slightly sarcastic, Seeley was actually a little nervous to meet her new dad. Angela said, "Its okay, I called Grayson last night, and I'm sure he's talked to Pam by now anyway. My dad isn't nearly as scary as he comes across. I'm sure you'll be walking without a limp in no time at all."

Fischer snorted and ended up spewing milk everywhere at her comment and had to take a couple of minutes to compose himself. "Thank you for the dinner theatre Ange" he said when he was under control.

Hank had been watching all of them banter and was quite glad that Seeley had fallen in with such a good group. Standing up, he began to take the dishes to the kitchen and Angela and Tempe both jumped up and said they would take care of it. So gathering all the dishes, the two of them went in and started to clean up. Working together, although in an unfamiliar place, they were able to get it all taken care of rather quickly. Jared, having gone upstairs after eating and taking a shower, came downstairs dressed in slacks, white shirt and tie, said, "Well, I didn't go to Wednesday services, so Pops, you want to go with me to the next service? It's in about an hour" he told his grandpa who was engrossed in discussing military ships with Fischer.

"Sure Cricket, let me get ready" he told him. Addressing the group he said, "I'm glad that you all enjoyed breakfast, maybe we can have you all over again sometime?"

Angela said, "Actually Sir, I was going to invite you all over to our house for Thanksgiving. This year it's just going to be me, Tempe and dad and Grayson and LaNiecy; we'd love to have you, your parents and sisters too?" She looked at everyone. "I know Wen has o go to his Grans house, Fischer could you come?"

Fischer said, "I'd like to Ange, but me and Cordie are going to have a fabulous turkey dinner with my mom at the hospital, she has to work that day and then we'll probably go to a movie or something."

"Hospital turkey food? Uhh yum" Angela said.

"No, it's okay, we do it every year, it's kind of our thing" he said, being just him and Cordelia and his mom, they'd learned a long time ago to carve out family time wherever they could. "Thanks for inviting us though" he said.

"If you're sure?"

"Oh yeah, besides, I can torture Cordelia mercilessly for the afternoon and really, there is nothing I like more" rubbing his hands together in a malicious way he gave an evil little laugh.

"Poor girl, remind me to invite her over to our house for some girl therapy when she's a little older ok Temper?" Angela said, walking over to lean up against Wendell.

Hank looked at both Seeley and Jared who were standing there looking at him for an answer. Realizing that they would dearly love to have Thanksgiving at a rock stars house he turned to Angela and said, "If you are sure it would be okay with your father?"

"Oh yeah, totally sure, it was his idea actually. He likes to have big gatherings and we usually have a ton of people over, but this year, he wanted it to just be family with Tempe moving in and such, and well, we're her family" She finished and Tempe tackled her in a big hug. "Thank you Ange! Can we invite Max too?"She knew that Zack was going to Hawaii for the holiday, but didn't know what Max's plans were. "Sure can kid, first thing tomorrow, we'll go to the museum and ask him"

The group discussed their invitation and chatted while Hank got ready to take Jared to church, and when he came down, they thanked him again as he left. Smiling and waving, he and Jared left and he reminded Seeley to be home no later than 10. He wanted him to get a good night's sleep after the previous one. Seeley told him he would and then turned to Tempe and said, "How about this, you and Angela go home and shower and whatever, me and Wendell will change and then come over? Fisch, you want to come over too?"

"Maybe later, I'm going to go home and make sure that Cordie and Michelle didn't burn the house down, plus I told mom I'd do some cleaning and junk." He wasn't ashamed of being the man of the house; in fact he enjoyed it most days. He also wanted to call Alana. He'd really hit it off with her, and although not the same kind of relationship he'd had with Daisy, he was pretty happy.

"Okay, then it's settled, we'll go get cleaned up, you all come over a little later okay?" Tempe said, as she hugged Fischer goodbye. She gave Seeley a quick kiss to the cheek and then turned to go, he grabbed her arm and pulled her in close, "Not so fast Little One" he told her, as he leaned down and kissed her lips. Patting her on the butt as she pulled away to leave with Angela, he smiled as she grabbed the spot in mock outrage. Once the two of them left he stood and stared at the door while Fischer and Wendell stared at him. "Oh, my girlfwiend is ever so dweamy I'm in wuuuuvvvv…" Fischer said clutching his heart dramatically.

"Shut up nimrod and go home" Booth told him, turning to go upstairs and shower.


	20. Chapter 79

Chapter 79

**Emotional night + little sleep + constant confusion = cranky teenagers…not a bump in the road, just a little gravel on the blacktop=MK**

Driving back to the house, Angela and Tempe kept up a running conversation about Thanksgiving and what all they wanted to do between now and then. "What do you do the day after Thanksgiving Angela?" Temperance asked.

"I shop, what do you think I do? I'm up no later than 2 in the morning and standing in line by 3, I shop all day, I drink coffee and eat junk food and shop until I'm completely drained, and then I shop some more. The next day I sleep all day and then look at everything I bought. It's totally fun!" she told her. "Why?"

"Because I wanted to go shopping too, I've never done that before, even with my mom, so I thought it might be fun. I have a little money saved up, I wanted to get some Christmas presents. I didn't know if Seeley would want to do anything though."

"Well, even if he does, you and I are going to tear it up! We're totally going shopping, we'll tell him to just lie around and do something else!" The two of them started laughing and planning which stores they wanted to go to. Somewhere in the midst of all of it, Angela reminded Temperance that she had a doctor's appointment on Monday too. "Can't we reschedule it? I want to hang out with Seeley a little bit; he said he traded shifts with Wendell this week so he could hang out with me." Temperance was pouting, it seemed like every time she had a free minute to spend with him, something else came up.

"Sorry Sweetie, them's the breaks. It's a condition of the adoption and we want you to get used to our doctors and dentists and stuff. You need to get on the pill and I'm not going to be around forever, so you'll have to start doing some of this stuff on your own."

She stopped speaking when Temperance was completely silent and staring at her. "Wait. First off, why do I need to go on the pill, and secondly, where are you going?" she asked her.

"Well, I'm no genius, but I'm pretty sure you and Seeley are heading in that direction, I mean, I know it hasn't happened yet because I'd be the first to know…well, maybe not the _first_, but one of the top three. Right? You know I'm going to school in the spring semester, I'll be back on weekends but during the week I'll be in NYC at the art school. I traded my semesters from the French school so I could be here until you graduate, so I'm doing the US portion first, and then when you graduate, I'll go to France when you go to Northwestern. Tempe-we talked about this already." Angela had stopped in the driveway and had turned in her seat to look at her.

Tempe just stared at her. Part of her was embarrassed about the birth control, and part furious that she was talking about leaving. Tempe had told her to go to school, before she was adopted, and really did want her to go, but she didn't know that she was going to go in about 5 months. Both of the two most important people in her life we're going to be leaving her. Again. She flopped back into her seat and crossed her arms. Angela reached over to touch her arm and she said in an angry tone. "Don't try and console me and make me feel better Angela, I don't care about the birth control, yeah, we'll most likely have sex someday so it's a rational and smart decision, but why are you leaving? What am I going to do without you? I just got here and you are leaving, and then Seeley will leave and I'll be alone. Jesus, why did you adopt me if you were going to leave me too?" she opened the door and slammed it, hurrying into the garage and hoping she remembered where her room was.

Angela sat there in dumbstruck silence as she marched through the garage. Slowly, she pulled the Escalade into the garage and followed her inside. Going into her own room first, she took off her jacket and then went through the adjoining bathroom to Tempe's room where she was standing against one of the tall windows looking outside. Angela walked over to her and touched her sleeve, "Tempe, turn around" she told her. Reluctantly Tempe turned towards her.

"I'm not leaving you Temperance. I will be going to school, I will be fulfilling my lifelong dreams that up until now have been on hold because I wasn't ready, and I was more interested in partying and hanging out with my friends. I would NEVER abandon you. I've loved you like my sister forever and I don't walk out on my family. You will be in school during the week, and then you have the museum class. I will be at school during the week too. Then, I'll be home on Friday nights, and home all weekend until Sunday night when I'll go back. It won't even be like I'm gone at all, since we will both be busy during the week. I've re-arranged my entire life for you and I don't regret one bit of it. In two years, you will be graduating and moving to Evanston to go to school. Did you really think that I was going to sit around here and work part time at the museum until you left? That's incredibly selfish and I might add very naïve of you. As far as Seeley is concerned, you have no idea how much he wants to stay. He's seriously thinking of going to school and putting his own dreams on hold for you. Is that what you want Tempe? Everyone puts their lives and dreams on hold for you? That's a load of crap you're selling sister and I'm not buying" she told her, her voice rising until she was practically shouting at her.

Temperance wasn't backing down either, the last few weeks had been nothing but an emotional roller coaster for her, and it was all starting to come to a head. "I don't think it's selfish to want to spend time with my sister and my boyfriend, I think it's selfish to think that now that I've got a permanent roof over my head and I'm allowed to do things that I'll be appeased and will just take everything at face value. I never said don't go back to school, it's all you've talked about and I even told you to go when I saw your flyer. I don't begrudge you or anyone else following their dreams. What makes me mad is that you both won't tell me anything! You're both so afraid I'm going to break down or shrivel up and waste away or something! I'm not a child! I've been to hell and I've come out on the other side, neither one of you know anything about what it's like to wake up one day and have NO ONE there, not your parents, not your brother, NO ONE. Just as you start to panic and wonder what is going on, your brother comes home long enough to tell you he's leaving again and you never see him again. Or them. The next thing you know, you've got all your possessions in a garbage bag and you're in a room with 30 other people who all are basically waiting for someone, anyone to come and rescue them. I haven't broken yet Angela and you leaving or even Seeley leaving me isn't going to break me. I'm stronger than I look and I wish that you and Seeley and Zack and everyone else would just see that!" she and Angela were standing toe to toe and right in each other's faces.

Neither one of them heard the doorbell ring, or heard the Grayson let the guys in. "I'd be careful going in there gentlemen" he told them, pointing down the hallway where their rooms were, "sounds to me like there is a hurricane brewing." The two of them nodded and walked quietly down the hall. Hearing the last of what Temperance was shouting Booth said, "Should we go in there?" and looked at Wendell.

"Not yet, let's listen a little more before we get hit with shrapnel" he told him as they paused outside the hallway.

Angela absorbed the onslaught and stood silent for a moment and then said, "At least you knew your mom Temperance, I didn't get that chance, and as for going through hell, how about your dad always being gone, having to ask a backup singer what a tampon was and how to use it because you got your first period at a concert, or not having any friends except for roadies and employees of your dad? And what about Seeley? You know what he went through, that's got to count for something. You don't think it was hell to have to leave your parents and go live with your grandpa because your dad is an alcoholic and beats the crap out of you and your baby brother and your mom? You don't own the corner office in hell princess believe me. We don't tell you stuff, not because we're afraid you're going to break, we don't tell you because we don't want to add to the stuff that's already there and unresolved. I know that moving out of the Sweets house 3 days ago and into our house hasn't solved the problem, if anything it's made it harder! Everyone see's that Temper. We all see how it's been, me, Seeley everyone. It's hard for him too, he trusted Payton and she screwed him. He doesn't want to get screwed again. Plus, he loves you so much and he's afraid if he leaves you to join the Army that you'll stop loving him, so he's trying to protect himself as much as you!" She was standing in front of her, her arms crossed, shaking she was so angry.

"Let me guess, tensions are high right now and the two sisters are having a little melt down?" a rough Texas drawl intoned from the hallway. Wendell and Seeley both jumped as Billy came into view. "You must be Seeley" he said, shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you son, Wendell, good to see you again. Scared to go in there huh? I don't blame you, either one of you. How about we let those two lightweights slug it out a little more and make ourselves scarce? Either one of you been to the studio yet?" They both shook their heads no and followed him as he headed towards the studio. Along the way they stopped to look at the multiple memorabilia that lined the walls. Photos of Angela as a child, growing up, pictures of him and his band with other high profile celebrities, it was quite the who's who list of people. Neither one of them was particularly eager to be alone with him, but given the alternative, he seemed the safer choice.

Back in Tempe's bedroom, she and Angela were still staring at each other, neither one ready to concede. This flare up was a long time coming and it needed to be said sooner rather than later or there would just be huge resentment. "I know I don't own the corner office of hell Angela, and I don't think that my story is any worse or any harder than anyone else. Fischer's dad left them when he was a kid and Cordie was a baby, Alana's mom is a single parent, I get it, I'm not the only one. But right here and right now, I'm the one that everyone is treating with kid gloves and I'm tired of it. All I want is for people to just stand up and tell me the truth without sugar coating it!"

"FINE!" Angela shouted back, "I'll stop trying to baby everything for you and just tell you how it is! But don't go breaking down and crying when it gets to be too much for you, that's not fair, you can't have it both ways!"

"FINE! I won't!" Temperance marched around her and started for the bathroom when Angela snaked her arm out and grabbed her shoulder. "Oh no, you're not done yet Missy. What exactly have you and Booth been up to anyway? Is the Dr Appnt too late?"

"Oh, now you're my mom too? Isn't it good enough that you're the big sister you've always wanted to be? Do you think that I'm so dumb that I wouldn't know how to be safe?"

"I didn't say you were dumb you nitwit, and I didn't act like your mom! I wanted to know just in case you had any questions or concerns…that didn't come out right, not like questions about positions and stuff, but I was worried, I mean, you're 16, granted almost 17 but still, it's not like you have a lot of life experience and Booth does. I just didn't want anything to happen to you too soon!"

"Like what? I can handle Booth, believe me I can handle him. For your information there has been very little progress made in that area because once again, he's too damn chicken to make a move! Not to mention that up until 3 days ago, the only time I ever saw him was at school or when he snuck into my house, that's not very conducive to having a physical relationship you know. Not that I'm in any hurry, I know what sex is Angela and I know that I don't want a casual relationship, but if I wanted to be a nun I'd join a convent. If I come on too strong he'll back away thinking he's protecting my virtue, if I wait for him I'll be 22 before anything happens besides the very very little that we've done already! I don't have any questions besides what's it going to take to get him to relax a little!"

Talking about this with her like this was not the way that Temperance wanted to admit that her curiosity was quickly overcoming any rational thoughts she may have had on the subject of sex. Being around him was as intoxicating as a 100 year old bottle of scotch was to an alcoholic. Continuing onto the bathroom she detoured to the bedroom door and closed it. She didn't want anyone to hear them arguing. Angela followed her and the two of them went into the bathroom. "I don't suppose you said anything to him?" Angela asked her. "I mean, no offense but the two of you are not the best conversationalists"

"I've tried, he keeps pushing me away! He makes little comments about how hard it is, and then he walks away. What if I'm not doing something? What if I'm no good at what we have done and he's trying to make it easier on me?"

"Oh my god, I did not sign on to be your Dr. Phil. TALK TO HIM. Tell him everything you just told me. I bet the two of you will be able to figure it out!" she shouted as she went into her own room and slammed the door. Normally she would have just jumped into her own shower, but right now she needed to walk away from the drama. Everything that was said needed to be said, she knew that, but wasn't sure if the way they went about it was the best course of action. Looking at her phone in her jacket pocket there were two missed texts, one from Wendell telling her they were on their way, and the other from her dad, "WHEN YOU TWO ARE DONE WITH WWIII YOUR MEN AND I ARE IN THE STUDIO-LOVE DAD"

Groaning Angela fell back on her bed and covered her eyes with her arm. Telling Temperance that the guys were downstairs with her dad was not even on her list of things that looked like fun. She heard the shower come on and decided she'd just tell her afterwards. Texting Wendell back, she told him they'd be down as soon as they were done getting cleaned up and to not be afraid of her dad unless he took his sunglasses off…


	21. Chapter 80

**Chapter 80**

After Temperance left the bedroom to get dressed Angela went in and took her own shower and was able to actually calm down and see both sides of the argument. Wondering if Tempe had the same feeling she went into her room after getting dressed in a pair of sweats. Pulling her hair up on top of her head as she went in, she called out, "Tempe?"

"I'm over here Angela" she said, coming out of the closet where she was pulling on an old t-shirt. A remnant of days gone past, it was one of Andy's old school shirts.

"Temper I'm sorry that we argued, I'm not sorry for what was said, but I am sorry I yelled at you." She told her coming over to where she stopped and offering her arms for a hug. "I'm sorry too Angela, I know that I react immaturely and without forethought sometimes, I'll work on it and see if I can't get better control. Thank you for telling me what I needed to hear. I sometimes forget that this is hard on the people around me too."

The two of them hugged and then sat on Temperance's bed. "As far as the whole you and Seeley thing," Angela said, her hand in Tempe's, "Don't do anything you don't feel comfortable with and remember that in the moment your brain is going to be over-ridden by your body. I know it's dumb, but I would really talk to Seeley and see what his comfort level is too. You both are incredibly mature and should be able to have a decent conversation without being embarrassed."

"I know, and I'm going to talk to him about it. Not today though, I just want to be lazy today." She agreed.

"Well, both boys are downstairs in the studio with my dad, so let's head down there okay?"

The two of them went downstairs, stopping in the kitchen to grab some drinks and a bag of chips on their way. Once they got down there, they could hear Seeley and Billy arguing over who had the better football team, The University of Texas or Texas A&M. Seeley was saying the Longhorns had a better passing percentage and were better on the run, and Billy was arguing the same for the Aggies. Wendell was wisely out of the crossfire and was watching as avidly as a fan at Wimbledon. Tempe entered first and walked over and put her arm on Seeley's. "Hey Big Man, let's talk about something else besides football okay? Like something less volatile? Nuclear fusion maybe?" she had walked around in front of him and was looking up at his expression. Passion for football was one thing, but getting into a shouting match with her new dad was a whole 'nother ballgame. At the same time she was trying to talk him off the ledge Angela winked at Wendell and went over to her dad, "Dad! We're all Aggie fans, its okay, calm down. No one is ever truly a Longhorn fan they're just confused, it's okay, breathe"

"Don't patronize me young girl" he said pushing his sunglasses down, "I know what I'm talking about and Tempe's beau was just confused in his thinking, we weren't yelling, just having a lively discussion. Similar to the fireworks you both were setting off upstairs. I trust since you are both down here together you have resolved said issues and the peace and harmony of this dwelling can continue?"

"Yes" they both answered at the same time, taking seats on the couches arranged around the small recording booth. Billy sat down on a swivel stool and idly plucked a guitar while they settled in. Looking up at him Angela said, "So, what's the verdict Dad?"

Wendell and Booth looked over the girls head's at each other and raised their eyebrows. They were unaware there was going to be a verdict.

"I like young Mr. Bray here Angie, he's a respectful boy, handsome and seems intelligent. Intelligent enough to not get into a football discussion with a Texan anyway, as for Mr. Booth, I like him as well Tempe, I think he has a good head on his shoulders and as long as he keeps his wits about him, he'll do fine in the Army." He nodded to each of them in turn.

"We've had time to discuss some rules regarding you girls; we'll let you in on them too. I don't expect that there will be any arguments either ladies. "Pulling his sunglasses down, he looked them both in the eye.

Continuing to play aimlessly he looked at Wendell and said; "Now son, I'm going to put you on the spot, what are your intentions with my daughter?" Wendell gave him a deer in the headlights look and stammered, "uhhh, um…my intentions? I don't know Sir, I like your daughter and would like to continue to see her, but I haven't thought that far ahead yet"

"Dad, you and I both know that is none of your business where I'm concerned, stop torturing him" Angela said, entwining her hand in Wendell's sweaty palm. "Well Angel, I was trying to be the dutiful father here, which with you is somewhat taxing, so I will pose the same question to you Mr. Booth as I'm sure Tempe will not be so quick to dismiss me"

"I'm going to marry her Sir" he responded at once without hesitation.

Tempe turned to look at him her eyes wide, "Marry me?" she said.

"Marry her?" Angela, Billy and Wendell all said at once.

"Yes, someday when we're both older and are out in the world, I plan on marrying her" he said. He'd thought about it a hundred times before, but never said it out loud and although completely sudden, he knew that it was right.

"Well, that's something to ruminate on isn't it?" Her dad said.

Never feeling more out of control than she did right then, she simply held his hand and tried to pick something out of the thousands of responses swirling through her mind to say. "Wow, and I just wanted to get through the initial introductions today" she finally came up with. Laughing, the suddenly tense mood broken, they settled down to general topics. Billy answered questions about being on the road and songs and the 5 of them spent a pleasant couple of hours visiting.

Billy eventually shooed them out of the studio and told them not to waste the nice day inside, they all went upstairs and Angela offered to show them all around. Although the sun was shining brightly outside, it was still very cold and none of them particularly wanted to go outside. Wandering through the large house, Tempe was able to get a better sense of the layout and where additional rooms were located. Circling back to the kitchen, Angela asked if they wanted to go play pool in the guest house, there was also a ping pong table and a TV out there.

Standing behind Tempe and holding her against his chest, Seeley said, "Actually Ange, I was wondering if there was someplace we could go to just talk? Somewhere private?"

"Yeah, why don't you guys go to the guest house and Wen and I will go watch a movie or something? Is that cool?" she said.

"Depends on the movie" Wendell said, pulling her close.

"Oh something dripping with romance and lovey dovey angst I think, I'm in the mood for that." She winked at Tempe and laughed when Wendell said, "Oh goody a chick flick"

The two of them walked off good naturedly ribbing each other and teasing about what movie they would watch, the other two knew that there was a very big chance that the movie screen would be ignored most of the time anyway. Holding hands they meandered through the garden, skeletonized by the upcoming winter weather, it was still pretty in its sparseness. Unlocked, the guest house was seldom used after the summer months so the air that wafted out when they opened the door was a little stale. They entered and Seeley closed the door behind him and leaned up against it, he pulled her into his arms and lightly brushed her bangs off of her forehead with his hand and then trailed his finger down her face. "I love you Tempe" he said, his voice husky. She smiled and turned to his hand and kissed his palm. Nuzzling his palm, she flicked her tongue out and licked his palm, lightly tracing along the edge of his hand with her tongue. He slid his hand into her hair and cupped the back of her neck and pulled her in close for a kiss. His tongue lightly tracing her bottom lip before slowly sliding between her teeth and enticing her tongue to dance with his, she put her hand on the back of his head and pulled him closer, intensifying the kiss. Tempe tried to mold herself to him as best as she could with the height difference, sensing her intentions, he pulled his hands from her hair and lifted her up so she was straddling his waist, never breaking the kiss. Moaning slightly she felt him tense and then he slowed the kiss back to a gentle exploration of her mouth, before trailing feather soft kisses against her jaw line and collar bone.

Frustrated, she stayed where she was; her arms interlocked behind his neck and said breathlessly, "Why did you stop?"

"Because Tempe, you and I both know that I have to stop because I don't know if I can stop when you touch me or kiss me and I don't want to put any more pressure on you." He said letting her go so once again she stood in front of him. He linked his arms behind her back and said, "It's getting harder and harder to make myself slow down with you, and you shouldn't feel like you have to say no all the time."

She stepped back and leaned against a sofa that was just on the inside of the door. She gave him a long look and started to speak before stopping again. "What is it Tempe?" he asked.

"I think that we should sit down and discuss some things Seeley. I didn't want to get into this today, but maybe today is the perfect day." At his stricken look she hurriedly assured him, "it's not bad, don't think that, it's just that Angela and I touched on some things today and at the time I thought we were just venting, but maybe she was right." She leaned over the back of the sofa and flipped over to land on the cushions. Popping up she looked up over the back of the couch and flipped her hair back over her shoulder, patting the cushion, she said are you going to join me?"

Raising his eyebrow and exhaling he walked around and slid down onto the couch. Turning to face her, she was now sitting cross legged and looking at him. "Okay, now what do we have to talk about?"

"I want to ask you some questions, is that okay?" she knew he was irritated, and she hadn't intended on getting into this today, but Angela was right, they did need to talk.

"I guess so. Do I have to be honest?" he asked a twinkle in his eye.

"No, lie to me, I like that" she said sarcastically. "Now, are you going to play nice or not?"

"I'll play nice."

"Okay, then the way this is going to work, I'll ask a question and if I like the answer and believe that you believe it, I'll take off one article of my clothes. If I don't like the answer or think you are full of it, then nothing. Sound fair?"

"So, strip 20 questions? You've been hanging around Fischer the Pervert too much." He laughed, "When do I take off clothes?"

"When it's your turn to answer questions silly, so are you in?"

"I'm in, let the question asking begin" he told her, wondering already if this was a good idea.

"Okay, what do you feel when we start to kiss?" she asked.

Taking his time to think about the question, he asked her to clarify, "Physically?"

"Just answer it however you want, I'm not going to break it down any further than that for you Seeley."

He turned around so that he was facing her, sitting cross legged as well, he leaned back into the arm of the sofa and looked at the earnest expression on her face while he thought about the question. He could be crass and tell her what he felt physically and leave it at that, but he suspected she was digging for something deeper. Payton had never once asked him how he felt about stuff like this and he liked that she was interested in more than just the end effect.

"I feel connected. I feel light headed, and I feel like I'm sliding down a waterfall. I get a rush of fireworks that start in my fingers and go through my whole body and then I feel like I'm drowning, I want to run my hands over your body, through your hair and wish that I could make you feel all of those things too." He finally said.

Tempe's face flushed slightly when he stopped talking and she was imagining the kiss in the car, and the way her body felt hot and cold at the same time and how she wanted nothing more than for his hands to explore her body. She smiled coyly and stripped off her socks.

"Your socks? That's all I get?"

"The questions just started Seeley, be patient" she told him.

"Why do you think that we need to stop every time we start to kiss for more than a few seconds?"

"I don't want to rush you" he promptly responded.

She cocked her head at him and said, "Why do you think you are rushing me?"

"What, nothing for that?"

"Nope, answer the next one."

Sighing and leaning back, he put his arms behind his head and looked at the ceiling. She looked at where his t-shirt rose on his abs and she could see a little strip of flesh between the edge of the shirt and his jeans. "Because this is all new to you, I don't want you to think that all I want is to get laid. I don't want you to do anything you aren't comfortable with and I'm not sure of my own willpower where you are concerned. When we touch, I feel a burn and I like it."

She took off her hoody and threw it on the coffee table. He could see that her nipples had hardened with the slight chill in the room and were pressing against the thin material of Andy's t-shirt. "How soon after you and Payton first got together did you have sex?"

"You really want to ask me about sex with Payton?"

"Have you had sex with anyone else?" she asked stubbornly.

"No, I haven't. We dated for about 3 months before we first had sex. It was awkward and weird and in the back of a car. I wasn't prepared for it, I just followed what my body wanted and it was over quickly. Is that what you want to hear?" he was slightly angry in his response and she reached over and put her hand on his leg, "Don't be mad Seeley, I'm just curious"

"I'm not mad, but I don't want to talk about that bitch and sex and you at the same time. It's not the same with you as it was with her. It was the score with her, I could have it anytime I wanted and at first it was all the time, it wasn't anything like what I feel for you…"

"Did every time you kiss her end up the same way?" she asked shyly.

"Not every time, but most times yeah."

Deciding he was being honest with her, she pulled off her t-shirt in one fluid motion and before looking back at him, she tossed it on top of the hoody. As the shirt settled on the table, she heard his sharp intake of breath and looked over at him. His eyes darkening to that deep chocolate brown and widening at the sight of her in just sweats and a deep purple bra. She nervously pushed her hair behind her ear and continued, "If you and I were making out and I felt too much pressure and told you to stop, would you be mad?"

"I wouldn't be mad Tempe. That's why I stop it. I don't want to pressure you."

He was mesmerized by her ample breasts with nothing between them and him but the thinnest of lace, her pale skin so smooth and taut. He folded his arms across his chest to keep from reaching over to touch her, but then realized he had more pressing problems than his hands.

Her own eyes had deepened in color and she lightly licked her bottom lip before continuing. "Seeley, I want to have sex with you more and more with every time we kiss or touch and I don't want to be afraid. I think that some of your reluctance to go further than we have is my age, I'll be 17 in three weeks and although by most standards in our society that is still too young to make a mature decision, in many other cultures and societies I would be an old maid. I'm not telling you that so I can just get it over with, give up my virginity casually though. I'm telling you that because I truly believe that when we are both ready, it will happen naturally and neither one of us will push the other away. Right now, when we kiss or touch or anything I know how far to go before I'm able to stop. I think you should trust yourself and me a little more. I know you won't hurt me and I know that we will both stop if it's not the right time."

He leaned uncrossed his legs and came over and knelt next to her on the couch, turning her to face him, her legs on either side of his broad chest and pulled her close to the edge of the couch. Looking into her eyes, his hands resting lightly on her hips he said softly, "I'd never hurt you or take advantage of you Temperance, never. I'll wait for you as long as you want, no matter how hard it is for me. I promise you that."

She put her own hands on his shoulders and said just as softly back, "I know that Seeley" she leaned up slightly as he leaned down and met his lips with hers. "I know" she breathed against them as his hand left her hip and slid up her back to the bottom of her bra. "Did you have any questions for me?" she asked breathlessly. His hand was warm and leaving trails of sparks across her flesh.

"Yeah, just one" he breathed against her neck where his mouth was trailing kisses to her collar bone.

"What is it?" she asked, eyes closed, her head tipped back allowing him access.

"Will you tell me when you want me to stop?" he asked looking at her, and lightly pulling her head back towards his. Kissing him she said, "Yes, I will."

Seeley pulled back slightly and pulled his shirt over his head and kicked off his shoes and unbuttoned the top of his jeans before leaning back towards her. She interrupted his hand on his jeans with hers as she stroked his chest and collar bone with the fingers of her other hand. Slowly trailing her hand down the light dusting of chest hair to where it tapered down and disappeared beneath his pants. She unzipped him and pushed his pants slightly off his hips. Hissing his breath between his teeth he leaned his head back as she slid closer to the edge of the couch. They were almost perfectly seated to allow him to press his hard cock against the soft swell between her legs.

Dipping his head back down, he caught her lips in a soft kiss and then trailed kisses down her jaw to her neck to the straps of her bra, slowly he pushed them off her shoulders and followed them with his mouth. Raising her arms, he took his time pulling the straps down so her arms were no longer trapped. She plunged her hands into his short hair and pulled him close to her hot demanding mouth. His full lips parted and she slid her tongue into his mouth, licking lightly at the top of his mouth and then engaging his in a slow, sensual dance. As their kisses alternated from heated to soft and deep to gentle pecks, he moved his hands over the front of her bra and lifted her breasts into his palms. Heavy and swollen, they filled his palms. Rasping his thumb over the hardened nubs under the lace she moaned and tensed at the sensation. He unclasped the front clasp of the bra and watched the lace fall to her waist. Looking back into her eyes, he once again took her breasts in his hand and dipped his head to kiss, first the left than the right. Taking his cue from her seductive moan, he pulled her ass closer to the edge of the couch and supported her weight with one arm as he pulled her nipple into his mouth and sucked on it gently. Swirling his tongue around her soft pink flesh he nipped slightly and then soothed the bite immediately. His teeth on her breasts' most sensitive spot caused her to gasp and arch her back pushing herself into his face.

Abruptly, he stopped and stood in front of her, pulling her up in one smooth movement. He carried her into the bedroom that was off to the left of the entrance and laid her down on the bed. Made up for guests should they drop by without warning, it was covered in a soft, black down filled comforter, 20 pillows arranged carefully at the head of the bed itself, forming a soft headboard. As she scooted back towards the head of the bed, he pushed most of the pillows off and slid his long frame next to hers. He ached to be freed from his jeans, but held himself in check. She was in control here and he would only go as far as she wanted. Once again they leaned in and began kissing, her chest against his as he leaned over her. His throbbing dick pressed against her outer thigh as he alternated stroking her breast and her stomach, her long thighs. Bringing his hand back up the inside of her leg, he felt how hot and wet she was for him through the material of her pants. He slid his hand up to the waistband and started to slide his hand under them when she put her hand on his, stopping his motion.

He pulled his hand back out and thought that she was going to ask him to stop, instead, she hooked her own fingers into the waistband of her sweats and pushed them down and then off with her feet. Looking down between her breasts towards her legs, he saw the matching purple panties, lace at the top, they were French cut bikini style and he could see the triangle of curls through the thin material. Her body was responding to his and instantly he smelled her arousal. Sweet and heady, he had to pull back from her mouth and take a deep breath. She reached out and grabbed his hand and brought it between her legs. When his hand cupped her and he felt her moist heat, he moaned into her mouth and plunged his tongue deeper into her mouth, causing her to arch her hips into his hand.

Tentatively, she reached down and slid her hand into his pants, tight with the strain of his hardness against the fly that was still only partially opened, she unzipped them the rest of the way, and he helped her push them down until they were halfway down his own thighs. "Take them off Seeley" she panted against his mouth.

"Are you sure?" he asked, knowing that he wanted that too.

"I'm sure" she told him, kissing his shoulder and biting him slightly. Feeling that little twinge, his hips bucked involuntarily and he lifted up off the bed just enough to push the pants down where he could toe them off with his feet. He lay back down, and she ran her hand along the outside of his thigh. Muscular and tight she followed them to his ass and felt how all those years of athletics had made him truly spectacular. Bringing her hand to the front fly of his boxer briefs, she looked him in the eye as she slid her hand in slowly. Grasping him, he closed his eyes and tensed as she began to stroke his length, slowly at first, rubbing her thumb over the slit at the top and using his own fluid to make the stroke smooth and sure. She wasn't in a hurry to bring him to climax; she was just exploring what made him moan and what made him tense.

Seeley had been focused on her hand in his boxers and realized he was missing out on the opportunity she'd presented to him. He slid his hand down her stomach to the top of the bikini panties and then further until her soft curls were pressed against his palm. She tensed and stopped her motion with her hand and he stopped as well, letting her make the next move, sighing she arched into his hand and he slid his finger to the middle of her lips, her arousal making her entrance silky smooth. Slowly, he penetrated her with his finger and felt and heard her groan as he slid all the way inside. Her muscles tensed and tightened around his finger and he imagined just how her tight body would feel around his hard cock. Moaning into her lips, he slid his finger out and then in excruciatingly slow, alternating pressure on the nub of her clit with his hand. Squirming under him, she said throatily, "Oh my god Seeley" as he slid a second finger in, he knew that he could make her come this way, but wasn't sure if she would let him.

With each finger thrust and each time he manipulated her most sensitive spot, she changed her rhythm on him which had both of them equally frustrated and yet still engaged in the sensation. Cupping his balls she stroked the smooth flesh below them and then back to his head and encircled him in her hand alternating a stroke over his head and then gently squeeze under it. Something in her knew that he was close to coming, and she stopped kissing him long enough to whisper, "Take me with you Seeley."

Burying his head in the vee of her head and shoulder, he increased the stroke of his fingers until she felt as if she was about to ride a wave in the ocean. Moaning she said, "oh, that feels ohh" and then when the orgasm hit she cried out and grasped him hard, causing him to groan out loud as well. Both of them felt the rise and fall of the same wave. Still stroking they softened the fall for both of them at the same time. She milked him slowly, feeling his body continuing to respond even when though he was spent. Panting, he kissed her throat as she slid her hand out of his boxers. Pulling his hand out of her panties at the same time, he brought it up her body to cup her breast again as he dipped his head to taste her still hard nipples. Looking down at her, her eyes were closed and he whispered, "Are you okay Tempe?"

Smiling slowly, she didn't open her eyes, but stretched slightly and said, "If it feels like that with your hand, I don't know what I'm waiting for."

He laughed and said, "You'll know when you're done waiting."

Pulling the cover over the side of the bed, he tucked her into his arm and against his side. Her warm full breast pressed against his rock hard chest. "That was amazing" he told her, kissing her slightly damp forehead as she snuggled against him, resting her hand on his chest.

"I agree. I've never felt like that before Seeley, it was like being on a roller coaster and in the ocean and on a swing all at once…I know that's dumb, but that's what it felt like." She blushed a little trying to put into words what her first orgasm felt like.

"I totally understand Little One" he said, "You make me feel like I've climbed a mountain, swam a river and jumped out of a plane and all it takes is one kiss" Smiling down at her, he tucked her in closer and the two of them fell into a light sleep, still feeling little tremors as their bodies relaxed against each other. Two bodies made to fit seamlessly, the shadows from the light outside drawing long over their bodies as they slept together for the second time in two days.


	22. Chapter 81

CHAPTER 81

Angela woke the two of them up at 7:30 and told them that they were getting ready for dinner. She discreetly didn't mention the state that she found them in, just thought it was nice that they had obviously had time to talk. After remaking the bed, the three of them trouped back into the main house, where Wendell, Grayson, LaNiecy, and Billy were gathered around the large butcher block table in the kitchen. They all had a nice dinner with conversation and started to make plans for Thanksgiving. The girls had input on the centerpieces and décor and the guys had input on what to serve during the football games. Seeley asked if he and Pops and Jared should bring anything and Billy told him quickly that it wouldn't be necessary.

After dinner Seeley and Wendell reluctantly left, both of them had to work on Monday after all and the girls had plans anyway. Promising to see her on Tuesday and to call her sometime on Monday, Seeley kissed Tempe in the doorway and then turned to leave with Wendell. She and Angela stood on the front porch even though it was snowing to watch them leave, halfway to the car, Seeley turned and asked, "Temp? What's your favorite flower?"

"Daffodils, why?" she yelled back.

"No reason, I just didn't know" he smiled and waved and got into the car with Wendell. The two of them drove through the large gates and winked the taillights at the bottom of the drive. The two girls went inside and decided to make lists of what was all needed for Tempe's room.

"Your appointment is at 9 tomorrow Temper, so we can get up and eat breakfast, go to that, get coffee and then go shopping. Do you want to do clothes or furniture tomorrow? We can do the rest on Tuesday when we go get the groceries for Thursday."

Rolling over on to her stomach on her bed she said, "I'd like to do clothes first. I really don't need any furniture, everything I would use is already in here, but I'd like to get some clothes that don't have plaid on them!" she made a face at the thought of the uniforms that St. Agnes students were required to wear.

"Speaking of which, Dad called the school and you have an account with them now, so get new ones if you need to. You could also get a couple more of those great hoodys! I like them, their comfortable."

"So, with my account, I should get you a hoody? Football or Hockey? Don't you want to steal one of Wendell's instead?" she teased her.

"Already did, I was thinking though, maybe I should get him a replacement! You know what would be funny, well mean but still kind of funny?"

"What's that?" Tempe was looking at her fingernails and thinking she might like to get a manicure on Monday too. She'd never really thought about it before, but there was no reason why she couldn't splurge a little.

"We should have Zack get us a couple of t-shirts from Marantha and then wear them under the St. Agnes hoody's! What do you think?"

"I think Seeley's head would explode actually. I just got him calmed down, let's not rile him up again okay?" She smiled at her.

"Okay then, lets make a list, what do you need?" she wandered over to the almost completely empty closet and after looking inside for a couple of seconds wrote something down on a note pad.

"What did you write?" Tempe asked coming to stand next to her in front of the closet.

Angela handed her the notebook that had one word written. "EVERYTHING"

The two of them dissolved into laughter and then started to write down more specific things, she also wanted to drop her jacket off to get mended, the inside pocket was starting to tear at the seam and she was reluctant to wear it until it got fixed, after all it was Andy's. Telling Angela to put that on the list, she suggested instead they just get her a new one to wear in the interim and after arguing pro's and cons' for it, Tempe reluctantly agreed.

She also wandered through the room and they decided to get some furniture items after all, laundry basket, lamps, that sort of thing. All too soon it was time for them to go to bed, even after the long afternoon nap, Tempe was still grateful to fall into the large bed and close her eyes.

The next day, Angela woke her up after taking her shower and told her to get moving so they wouldn't hit too much traffic, it had snowed all evening and there was almost 6 inches out there. Billy told Grayson to take them to the doctors' office, and then he would provide a driver for the rest of the day as Grayson was technically on vacation. Whining to her dad that she was perfectly capable of driving them around didn't earn her any brownie points. He succinctly pointed out the last time she drove one of his rigs it was wrecked, her Trans Am was both not practical for the weather and not big enough for the shopping bags he was sure they would tote home, and that the Escalade was Grayson's not hers.

Pouting she told him some day he was going to have to cut the strings, and he retorted "Well Miss Pearly Gates, when you prove that you are mature enough to take care of yourself and not use my vast resources to do it, then I will cut the strings, until then, pretend you like it when you have money to spend and people to help you with things, for me. Would you?"

She got up from the breakfast table and gave her dad a hug and kiss, "Okay Daddy" she winked at Tempe and indicated that it was a never ending argument she had with him. Forever 6 years old in his eyes, she rebelled where she could, but didn't want to see him see her as an adult well on her way to her own life.

The three of them left with plenty of time to spare should the roads be bad and headed to see Tempe's new doctor. Sitting in the waiting room, Grayson had left them there and headed off to run some errands, Tempe looked around and wondered what kind of questions he would ask. She'd never been to an OB/GYN before and was a little nervous. "Angela?" she whispered.

"Yes Temper?" Angela whispered back, even though they were the only ones in the waiting room.

"Will it hurt?" she asked, blushing furiously.

"Will what hurt?"

"Whatever he's going to do to me?"

"He's not going to 'do' anything to you silly, he's going to get your basic information, height, weight that sort of thing, do the exam and then you're done. He'll call in a prescription for BC and we're on our way. The hardest part will most likely be answering the questions about your family. That's what was difficult for me, I had no idea and neither did my dad."

"Oh, okay then." She tried to remember things that her mom had told her about their family and was a little shocked to see that she really had to concentrate on what her mom had looked like when she left. She remembered her vividly the way her 6 or 7 year old self had seen her, but not so much what she looked like when Tempe was 14. Soon her name was called and giving Angela a worried look she followed the nurse behind the doctor's doors. Angela smiled at her and gave her thumbs up, then settled in to reading a magazine.

Forty five minutes later Tempe came out a disgusted look on her face and the two of them walked to the pharmacy, which was attached to the doctor's office. "What's that look for?" Angela asked smirking.

"Well that was completely humiliating, the stirrups and stuff was bad enough, but that didn't explain why everything in there was roughly the temperature of ice!"

Laughing Angela told her that she now knew what to expect once a year and that it was all behind her now. Punching her softly for not telling her what was going on they got in line to pick up her prescription and then went back to the entrance by the doctor's office, so their driver would be able to see them. Seeing that it was Tatum, a favorite of Angela's made her smile. "You'll like Tatum, he's funny. Plus, he doesn't mind going inside and holding bags and stuff. He'll even go in to lingerie stores and not get that embarrassed look on his face. Grayson won't even do that!" linking arms, they carefully made their way across the parking lot. Once in the car and the introductions were made, Tatum took them to their first stop at the mall. Tatum turned out to be over 6 feet tall, a solid brick of muscle but lean, tousled light brown hair and somewhat tan, he had green eyes and a strong face. Tempe thought he looked like a soldier that surfed and he told her that he did surf, as often as he could. He was raised in North Carolina by his dad and lived right near the beach. He'd come to work for this company after being discharged from the army two years prior.

Packed already with pre-holiday shoppers, he dropped them off at the entrance to the mall and told them to wait for him to park. He was driving a luxury SUV and needed to park pretty far out to get a decent sized space. While they waited just inside the entrance, Tempe turned on her phone and was happy to read a text from Seeley. "Just waking up without you today was torture. Have fun today and I'll call you later. Love BMOC." She quickly texted back, "At least you had all the covers! You have fun too. Love Bone Lady"

Tatum arrived and the three of them went to get coffee to start, and then onto the whirlwind of shopping that Angela had planned. They spent 5 hours at the mall, and Tatum had to go back to the truck 4 times to stow purchases in that time. He didn't mind, he liked working for the private security firm that Billy hired. He'd always enjoyed Angela and found that he really liked Tempe too. So outwardly different from her adopted sister, she had a nice personality, was obviously intelligent and incredibly beautiful. He knew getting involved with the clients was strictly prohibited, but he was sorely tempted. Especially when they were finally leaving the mall heading to some specialty shops downtown and she slipped in the snow, had he not been standing there, she would have hit the ground hard. As it was, he caught her and she fell instead into rock hard arms and a solid chest. Looking up, she saw he had the most brilliant green eyes she'd seen and they were full of concern, "You okay Miss Tempe?" he asked setting her back on her feet.

Feeling the full weight of those bright eyes she exhaled quickly and said, "Um, yes, thank you Tatum, I'm pretty clumsy. I appreciate it"

"No problem" he told her, "I'd catch you anytime." Realizing that didn't come out quite the way he intended it to, he turned away abruptly and walked arm in arm with both of them to the truck. Balancing the last of their purchases and the two girls kept him from rationalizing what he'd said, and luckily neither one of them saw the blush on his cheeks, it looked more like just the cold weather was affecting him.

Getting inside, and starting the truck to warming up, Tempe asked, "Are you guys hungry? Because, I'm starving and if we've got more shopping to do, than I have to eat."

Angela agreed and asked Tatum if he wanted pizza or Thai food. Deciding that Thai was the overall favorite, the three of them headed downtown to a local dive that he knew of, he'd spent 5 years stationed overseas and knew which of the restaurants in the states were authentic and which were Americanized. Tempe was fascinated about his military time and they spent the next hour or so discussing some of the places that he'd been. She was curious both for Seeley's sake and to talk to someone his age that had seen so much. Angela picked up on a vibe while they were eating, but wisely didn't pursue it. She knew that it wasn't as strong on one side as it was on the other, but was still there. She knew that Tempe wouldn't do anything foolish, after all she'd had opportunity after opportunity with Zach, but she still couldn't quite shake the feeling that this was going to start happening more and more as Tempe came out of her shell. Men just seemed to be drawn to her. She only hoped that Seeley was able to rein in that temper of his.

Once the meal was over, Tatum took them to a couple of furniture boutiques downtown and said yes or no when his opinion was asked, but not much more. He had been hired to drive them around, and provide security for the two of them. As much fun as lamp shopping was, he was glad when it was over and they instead decided to go poke around the 'Gypsy Market', telling them he would make the necessary arrangements to get their bigger stuff delivered, he escorted them inside the large building that housed the year round, indoor market of handmade items, hard to find things and small boutiques. The gypsy market was one of Angela's favorite places to shop, she found a lot of her clothes there, not to mention, a lot of inspiration for some of her art. It was wall to wall open air booths, very much like a farmers market or the pier in Seattle.

They had a wonderful time, lingering over the jewelry, trying on clothes behind the pulled sheet changing areas and Tempe was even excited to buy a few small rugs and decorative items for her room. Looking at the time, they decided it was time to head back, so calling Tatum to meet them at the front doors, they started out. When they were halfway there a young man came up to them and started to chat, soon he was joined by three others and they found themselves boxed into a corner somewhat. Turning to go around them, the first one that had come up to them reached over and grabbed Angela's purse and started to take it from her, when all of a sudden like he'd been shot, he dropped. Turning over her shoulder to look at what could have happened, the other three guys scrambling to get away, Tatum was standing there, and was reaching into his pocket to pull out a phone, putting his booted foot on the guys neck, he calmly called the police and asked the girls if they were okay. Shaken by the near theft, but not really hurt they told him they were fine.

Angela asked if they could go to the truck, and he told them he'd take them there as soon as the cops showed, not five minutes later a uniformed officer came up and took the kid into custody, after taking the girls statements, he let them go and Tatum took them to the truck. "Thanks Tatum, it's a good thing you were there" Angela told him, her hand on his arm.

"That's why I get paid the big bucks Ange, don't worry about it" he smiled and patted her hand, "Now, let's get you two home, okay? I've got to file a report before the office closes" He made sure they were buckled up and then merged into traffic. Tempe took that opportunity to text Angela, sitting right next to her.

"Are you okay? Really?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, a little shaken up, no damage though, the purse if fine too"

"That was quick of him to be there, it was so fast!"

"I know, he must have seen us heading his way"

"He was so brave. He's cute too, don't you think?"

"Yeah, don't go falling in love now Temper"

"I'm not, just an observation"

"He's nice to observe, that's for sure! "

They started to laugh causing Tatum to look in the rear view mirror, "Everything okay back there ladies?" he said, his soft southern drawl starting to come out the more they talked to him.

"Right as rain" Tempe said and then looking at the look on Angela's face they both started busting out laughing. Tatum decided it was the adrenaline high wearing off and just shook his head. Teenage girls were some of the weirdest creatures on the planet sometimes.

When he got them back to their house, he helped Grayson carry in all the bags and then filled him in on what happened downtown, giving him the police report number he turned to go and Angela stopped him, "Thanks Tatum, I'm glad you were there."

"No problem Ange, I'm glad you two were okay. I'll see you on Friday okay?"

"Friday?"

"Yeah, I'm up in the rotation for the annual Angela Montenegro Black Friday shopping extravaganza" he told her, his eyes twinkling with laughter, "I'll just need to get plenty of rest, special ops is nothing compared to you on a shopping high"

"You better believe it buster! Tempe's going too, so this year it's double trouble!" Laughing at her and waving he left to go back to the office, where not only did he have to fill out the paperwork, but he had to trade shifts with Rory. There was no way he was going to miss out on being with the two of them again. He didn't know anything about Tempe, but he was determined to find out.


	23. Chapter 82

Chapter 82

After going through their purchases again, and hanging stuff up, Tempe was exhausted. She called Seeley and left him a voicemail to call her when he got a chance. She decided that she would go take a swim in the sunken tub, so climbed in it and had been soaking luxuriously for close to an hour when Angela came in and said, "Hey Temper! The Big Man is blowing up my phone and yours trying to get a hold of you, take this will ya?" she handed her the phone and left.

Hands covered in sandalwood scented bubbles she said, "Hi Seeley! What's up?"

"Tempe, where you been kid? I've been calling for the past hour!" He said relieved that Angela had finally found her.

"I've been in the bathtub, swimming laps" she told him, her exhaustion had long since faded and she was feeling playful.

"Oh, well make sure you wear your floaties, I've heard the currents are tricky in those things. What are you doing tonight?" He could just imagine her in the spa tub and was working hard to concentrate on anything else at the moment.

"Nothing that I know of, I don't have any plans, I don't think Angela has anything going on either, why? You want to come over?"

"No, actually I was wondering if you'd like to go to the movies and then grab something to eat?" he was nervous and had no idea why. He was asking his own girlfriend out on a date and he was nervous.

"Like a date?" she asked sliding up in the tub and grinning foolishly.

"Yes, like a date" he said with a smile on his face.

"I'd like that, what movie? Where would we eat? What time?" she bombarded him with questions.

"How about I come over in about 45 minutes and we'll decide from there okay?" he was already dressed and was just waiting to drive over, but wanted to give her time.

"Are the roads still bad?" she asked. She didn't know if it had started snowing again while she was in the bath.

"It's snowing slightly but not enough to make them any worse, I'll be fine kid."

"Okay then, drive safe and I'll see you in 45, bye Seeley!" she said hanging up and putting the phone on a shelf behind the bath. Climbing out, she went straight to her room and plowed through her new purchases to find something to wear tonight. He'd already seen everything she had prior to today. Rifling through the bags, she settled on a black pair of jeans, a black button down camisole top with a purple leather jacket. Pairing this with a pair of black biker boots she thought would be perfect. Hastily pulling on a pair of black boy shorts and matching black and purple bra she got dressed and began to dry her hair. Right before leaving the bathroom, she put on the chain that his class ring hung on, she had worn it sporadically but tonight wanted it on full view.

Angela came in while she was in the bathroom, "Temper! Are you still marinating in there?" she asked, then walking closer to the doors she could hear the hair dryer. Pushing open the door she said, "Where are you going all dressed up Miss Thing?" cocking her eyebrow. Tempe turned and said, "Seeley asked me to a movie and dinner, like a real date Ange! Oh, do I need to ask Billy before I go?" She hadn't thought of that, and it just now occurred to her that she may not be able to go without someone saying it was okay.  
"Nah, just let him know, you have to be home by midnight though, he's pretty strict about curfew and will turn the GPS on the phones at midnight so Grayson can come find you. It's not pretty, I wouldn't recommend it" she told her, speaking from vast experience.

Laughing at the chagrin expression on her face Tempe said, "I'm sure we won't be out that long, but I'll keep it in mind. Where is he? So I can let him know?"

"He's in the studio, have fun and be safe, I'm going to work on some sketches. I have to run by the museum tomorrow to change my schedule with them, well and to see if I'm actually still on the schedule for sure, we can ask Max about Thanksgiving then okay?" She told her walking through the bathroom to her own room.

"Okay, thanks Angela, your phone is above the tub, by the way."

"Thanks Temper, I'll get it in a minute."

Turning back to her own reflection, she pulled her hair up into a French twist, one of the few styles she knew how to do herself, and began to lightly apply her makeup. When she was satisfied, she went back to the bags and pulled out her new Kate Spade bag, making sure that she had her phone and her wallet in there, she went to find Billy.

When she entered the studio, she found him sitting quietly on the sofa, a soft piece of jazz music pouring slowly out of the speakers recessed into the ceiling. "Billy?" She said quietly, not sure she should disturb him.

"Yes Temperance my love, what can I do for you?" He said, opening his eyes and looking at her. "Well, aren't you a vision for this old man; are you and the wild child going somewhere?"

"Not exactly, um, actually Seeley asked me out to dinner and a movie, is that okay?" she wasn't sure what protocol was in this situation.

"It's okay with me, just be home by midnight. I understand the roads are pretty bad, do you want a driver? I could call the service?"

"No, I think Seeley will be fine, I trust him." She said, her chin held high.

"I do as well Little One, I like that boy. He's been raised well; he loves his family and his God. He's trustworthy and responsible. Those are all good traits. I also see the love that he has for you in his eyes. He's a little unsure of the power of love, but he's working through that and I can see that you are working through it too. "His voice was soothing to her and made her feel more than ever that he rescued her for a reason.

"Yes Sir, I love him too, and thank you. "She went over to sit by him and gave him a hug.

"Thank you right back missy, you've brought a fresh breeze into this home and it's a welcome one. Now, go have fun"

Smiling she got up from the sofa and headed back to the main entry to wait for Seeley. She didn't wait long before there was a knock at the door. Bounding up she ran over and opened the door and he was there, smiling and holding a single daffodil out to her. Her eyes lit up when she took the flower and brought it close to her face. "It's beautiful, thank you Seeley!"

"You're beautiful" He told her reaching to take her hand, pulling her in for a kiss.

"You too" She said, enjoying the view. He was wearing black jeans that were definitely on the right side of a good fit, a black button down shirt and a black trench coat that hit him mid-thigh. When he pulled her in close she inhaled his cologne and smiled. She couldn't believe that this guy was hers. After all the problems and issues that they'd faced, they'd come out the other side. Taking her hand he led her to his truck and the two of them set out on their date. "Where are we going Seeley?" she asked.

"Well, there are a couple of movies starting here pretty soon, I thought I'd let you choose." He handed her a list with the times. Looking through the movie titles she asked, "How about the new vampire one?" knowing full well that he thought the newest trend of vampire movies was completely ridiculous. "If that's what you want to see, than that's fine by me" he said heavily.

Giggling she said, "No, I think that sparkly vampires are dumb. How about we go with this one?" Agreeing on the suspense movie, he changed directions and drove to the multiplex. When they got there, he went to the kiosk and asked for two tickets, Tempe handed him some cash and he handed it right back. "I asked you, I'll pay." He told her, kissing her on the forehead as they went inside.

"Okay, I'll get the popcorn?"

"Deal" he squeezed her hand and went with her to get in line at the concession stand. After getting their popcorn, he asked her to wait outside the theater so he could use the restroom. Standing there she was overcome with a sense of belonging. Finally, she wasn't on the outside looking in; she was a part of all the movement. A part of something tangible, she turned to look at some upcoming premiers and overheard a group of girls that were standing by the entrance as well.

"Oh my, look at what just walked into my life" A buxom blonde was speaking to her friends, turning slightly to see what they were looking at, she saw Seeley come out of the men's room, and she looked at him as they must see him. Tall, muscular, strong jaw, wide shoulders, slightly brooding look on his face until he saw her and then his face broke into a wide smile.

Thinking he was looking at them, the blonde smiled back as he walked up and said, "hello handsome" glancing over at her, he threw her his charm smile and said nothing, instead walked up to his girl and picking her up, kissed her deeply and then set her down and the two of them walked into the theater to find seats.

Laughing slightly at the annoyed huff the blonde let out as she was ignored, Tempe said, "I bet you get that all the time huh?"

"What? Pretty girls kissing me in the theater? Not as often as you would think actually."

"No, I mean girls calling you handsome, trying to catch your eye, that sort of thing." She wasn't jealous really, more curious.

"I do and I was aware of it, but all I'd ever do is throw 'em a smile or a nod, I mean I flirt with Cordelia and Michelle because I've known them for years, but girls my own age or even older, I pretty much just let the comments roll of off me. I told you I never cheated on Payton and I didn't."

Smiling she glanced over at him as they settled into their seats. "I know that Seeley, I just never expected to be on the arm of someone that looks like you do" she whispered as the previews were running.  
"Don't sell yourself so short kid, you're beautiful and I'm lucky that you agreed to talk to me at all" he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, reaching with his hand to take hers. He lightly rasped his thumb over the top of her hand and squeezed her fingers slightly as the lights totally dimmed and the movie started.

After the movie ended and the credits rolled Seeley and Tempe exited the theater into the very cold but clear night air. The snow had stopped falling while they were inside and had left a partial dusting over the cars in the parking lot. "Now what did you have planned Mr. Booth?" Tempe asked as she tossed the container of popcorn.

"How hungry are you?" he asked, helping her to navigate the slippery asphalt as they headed to the truck. He opened her door and reached in to start the truck as he brushed the snow off the windshield, climbing inside she said, "I'm actually not very hungry, but I'm sure you probably are" she said, "What did you have in mind?"

"Normally the diner would be fine, but how about since we're all dressed out and on the town, there's a little Italian place near downtown that has really great food. Do you want to try there? I can't imagine that it would be all that busy right before the holiday." He told her, starting to pull out into the traffic leaving the theater.

They chatted casually while he drove downtown, his hand never leaving hers. Once they arrived, his earlier comment was accurate, they were barely a quarter full, the two of them were seated by the window and the waiter leaned over and lit the candle in the middle of the table before handing them both menus. Tempe looked around and saw that the people that were in there were all quite a bit older than she and Seeley. She reached across the table and touched his hand, looking up from the menu he smiled and said, "What's up Little One?"

"Look around Seeley, do you see what I see?" she asked nodding towards the other diners. Seeley set his menu down and looked. Almost all of the couples were either touching each other's hands, sharing food or simply sitting in companionable silence. "It looks like the restaurant scene from Lady and the Tramp" he said, "I fully expect to be serenaded soon."

"I think it's romantic" she said picking up her own menu. Seeley abruptly stood and came over and kneeled next to her. Taking her hand in his he said, "I know that we are both too young and we have our whole lives ahead of us, but I can't wait. I love you. I think I've loved you from the very first time I saw you, I know I've loved you since I helped you sit down under the tree when you hurt your knee and when I brushed your hair away from your face, you're the first thing I think of in the morning and the last thing I think about before I sleep at night. I only hope that I think of you while I sleep as well. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I want the rest of my life to start today. I know I don't have a diamond and I don't have anything to prove it to you but I'll love you for the rest of my life, and I was wondering, would you promise to wait for me to get back from the Army? Just wait, even if we don't stay together; just wait until I come home?"

Tempe stared into his chocolate brown eyes, so full of love and then she swallowed and looked up slightly and noticed that there were people staring at them, the whole restaurant seemed to be holding its' collective breath. Realizing what this must look like she whispered, "Everyone is staring at us Seeley please get up."

"Not until you answer me" he told her, not caring in the slightest what people might think.

"I promise, I promise I'll wait for you." She said, leaning down to hug him. He hugged her back hard and kissed her forehead, the restaurant erupted in applause, realizing too late he turned around and everyone was congratulating them and holding their glasses in the air. "What are they doing?" he asked, looking back at her as he stood up. "They think you asked me to marry you" she said with a smirk on her face, as she raised her water glass back to them and nodded. "Oh" he said sheepishly, shaking hands with both the maître d and their own waiter, who was apparently bringing them a bottle of champagne. Tempe put her head down and studied the menu again until the people slowly went back to their own private tables. "You are never going to hear the end of this Seeley Joseph Booth. NEVER" she told him.

The waiter poured them each a glass of champagne and then left with their orders. "A toast?" he said picking up the fluted glass. "I'm 16 Seeley; I'm not going to drink that."

Winking, he poured her flute into his empty water glass and then poured his water into her flute, "How about now" he said with a grin on his face. Tempe rolled her eyes and gently touched the glass to his, "To us, the us we are now, the us we will be and the us we'll always remember" he said. Finishing the glasses the two of them drifted into conversation until their meals arrived, sharing with each other, they finished off the night with a shared tiramisu and he got her to try cappuccino. After paying the bill, they went back outside where it had started to snow again.

Seeley drove carefully back to the house and pulled into the driveway. Walking her to the door, just shy of midnight he said, "I had the best night tonight Tempe" and then leaned down to kiss her.

Kissing him back, she sighed and leaned into his much larger frame and soaked up his warmth. "I did too Seeley, thank you for everything, it was the best night" He held her close and kissed the top of her head, "Go to sleep Little One, I'll call you in the morning."

"Okay Seeley, please drive safe and text me when you get there okay?" she said, turning towards the door.

"Always, and if I can't drive safe, I'll drive fast and swerve a lot" he said winking before turning and sliding down towards the truck. Tempe laughed and closed the door and went to her room. She walked through the bathroom to Angela's room, but the lights were out. She went back over to the side of the bathroom that was hers, and there was a note stuck to the window. "Temper-I went to China Blue tonight with Amy and Russ, will be home late, I'll see you in the morning, I hope you had fun! Love Angel"

She turned it over and wrote on the back, "I had the best night-see you in the AM" Going to her one room, she got out of her clothes and into one of Seeley's old t-shirts she'd snuck out of his hockey bag and a pair of sweats. Holding her phone she was almost on the brink of sleep when the text rolled in, "I made it in one piece, crawling into my cold lonely bed, I'll see you in my dreams-BMOC" and she smiled and texted back, "I'll meet you in the middle of the dance floor, I'll be the one in the white dress, love Bone Lady" and slowly drifted off to sleep.


	24. Chapter 83

Chapter 83

The next day flew by fast, Tuesday Angela and Tempe went to the museum and Angela got her new schedule arranged. They also asked Max to join them for Thanksgiving and he happily accepted. Promising to bring his world famous blue cheese chicken dip for the football games as well, Max was glad that Tempe was integrating into the Gibbons household relatively smoothly. He ended up joining the two girls for lunch as well, during which he outlined what the class would be studying next. Tempe was particularly excited that they would soon be studying the skeletal system. That was her true passion and she couldn't wait.

After lunch the girls met Grayson and LaNiecy at Costco and joined the hundreds of other shoppers stocking up for the Thanksgiving meal. Going home after spending the majority of their afternoon in warehouse hell, Angela and Tempe came home and were delighted to see that all the things they had bought on Monday had been delivered and they spent most of the afternoon and evening putting things together and arranging them the way that Tempe wanted. Periodically texting and talking on the phones, the girls made plans to go skating at Zams after hours that evening. Seeley said he'd come and get them as soon as Wendell called him.

Shortly before 9 Seeley called and said he was on his way, so Angela and Tempe got dressed and ready to go to the ice skating rink. Tempe decided to wear a St. Agnes hoody and jeans, Angela was a little more 'artist on ice'; she was wearing lime green leggings, a denim mini skirt and an orange leotard with a white faux fur vest. Shaking her head, Tempe just smiled at her friends' flair for the dramatic.

Seeley knocked on the door and handed each of them a single daffodil and kissed Tempe on the cheek before ushering them to the car. Although the snow had stopped falling; it was still very cold outside, so they hurried to the still running car and jumped in. Seeley asked about their day and Tempe told him about lunch with Max and how he would be there on Thursday. They also told him about all the things that had been delivered today, and she told him he would have to come see her room.

"I'd love to see your room Tempe" he said seriously. Interjecting, Angela said, "over my dead body Seeley boy." Laughing the three of them talked about the upcoming holiday and their remaining weekend plans. Pulling to the rear of Zams, Seeley used his key card to get in the back and they went inside. Wendell was just checking out the last of the free skaters, there was a group of teenagers practicing on the smaller rink, but the free skate rink was wide open. Giving Angela a kiss as she came back behind the counter, he pointed to the skates he'd gotten out for the girls.

"Okay guys, 15 minutes and I need you off the ice" he said into the intercom, letting the other three head down to the main rink. "Hey, I'll be there in about a half hour" he told Angela as she followed Seeley and Tempe. "Do you want me to stay up here Wen?" she asked.

"If you want" he said, slightly pouting. Rolling her eyes, she put the skates on the counter and then hopped up to sit on it herself, "We'll be down later, don't forget, we can see what you're doing!" she laughed and pointed to the camera. Seeley shook his head and dragged Tempe towards the rink. Once they had their skates on, they went out to the ice.

Wendell and Angela eventually joined them; he'd turned off the main lights so the only lights were from outside the boards on the edge and the disco ball in the middle. They spent the time racing each other, the girls racing the guys as they skated backwards, slow dancing to the ballads that would come on randomly and generally just hanging out with each other. Seeley and Wendell got out some hockey sticks and a puck and tried to teach the girls some hockey moves. Unfortunately, it was more fun for them to see how far they could make the puck slide so they stopped paying attention to the 'instructors'. At 11:15 they got out of their skates, and Seeley helped Wendell put the ice down and close up. Angela had decided to go home with Wendell as she had no curfew, Tempe however still had to be home by midnight, so she and Seeley left and headed home.

He pulled into the parking lot with 10 minutes to spare. They sat huddled in the car and talked, stealing soft kisses here and there until the lights on the porch flashed. Kissing him one last time, Tempe told him she'd see him in the morning. He was coming over to help her and Angela and Marie make pies for dinner on Thursday. Tempe got out of the truck and walked up onto the porch, he watched her go and laughed a little as she slipped on the stairs and then thrust her arms straight up. Yelling out the window, "it was an 8.0 babe!"

"Hey, 8? I stuck the landing!" she yelled back.

"Yeah, but the form was all off!" he told her as he pulled out of the driveway. Tempe went into her room, got into her pajamas and pulled out one of the things that she had bought with Angela. It was a red faux leather bound journal. She was going to attempt to keep it updated as often as she could. Grabbing a pen, she turned on the radio and the lamp on the nightstand and began to write.

Seeley drove home and went inside. Howard was there again, he hoped he wasn't going to be there for the holiday too. He knew that Jared would most likely want someone his own age around, but he hoped that Howard would have plans with his own family. Seeley would take time to spend with his brother. Picking up his letter jacket from the couch he took it upstairs. There was a small package sitting on his bed. At first his heart jumped into his throat and then when he looked closer he recognized the sender. Smiling broadly he dropped his jacket and used his pen knife to open the wrapping, pulling the little velvet box out of the wrapping, he looked at what was inside. The miniscule light that was coming from the lamp made it glow slightly, he reached over and turned on the main light to the room and the box exploded with light. Picking up the item in the box, he held it in his head, turning it round and round. It was perfect. He'd seen it downtown at a store and knew he had to get it for her, the shopkeeper said it was a commissioned piece and he'd have to have one made, Seeley had ordered it, fully intending to give it to her for Christmas. However, now, he had it before he expected to, so he may just give it to her early. Putting it back into the box, he put the box in his dresser and got ready for bed.

Climbing in, he lay on top of the covers, his arms behind his head, thinking about them skating and goofing off. He really liked how alive she had come recently. He liked to imagine how things were going to be 2 years, 4 years, 20 years from now. He only hoped that he would be able to give her what she needed while he was gone. The week after Thanksgiving he was going to go turn in his paperwork. He was hoping to get into the enlistment group that was going after graduation; the recruiter had told him it would most likely be 3 weeks or so after he graduated. Yawning, he closed his eyes and thought about the future and what it would bring.


	25. Chapter 84

Chapter 84

When Seeley and Wendell came over on Wednesday to help make the pies for dinner, they grabbed Fischer who had invited Alana as well. They knocked on the front door and waited for it to be opened, after a few minutes with no response, Fischer reached over and rung the doorbell. A custom chime of LEGS played briefly which made them laugh. After a few more minutes on the porch, Seeley looked over at Wendell and shrugged, reaching for the latch, he opened the door and stuck his head inside, saying, "Hello? Anyone home? Tempe?" The only response he heard was a high pitch shriek and then the loud thud of something large hitting the floor. Pushing the door in and running towards the noise Seeley and Wendell took off. Fischer turned to Alana and said quickly; "Stay here" and he took off after his friends.

The three of them rounded the corner to the kitchens and stopped short. Flour was sifting down from the ceiling and almost every surface was covered in flour and eggs and various other ingredients. As were the three girls huddled together and laughing on the floor, their backs to the open door. Just then, another egg was launched from behind the large island in the middle of the kitchen. Ducking so the missile hit the counter and not them, they all laughed and trilled together, "yoooouuuu missed!"

A soft Australian accent drifted across the room, "If you girls keep making noise, I won't be missing for long!" LaNiecy said with a smile. Grayson stood up halfway and in a crouch started to walk around the island, Marie stood and pelted him with an egg. Hitting the floor hard, he said, "Man, that girl gets better every year my bride!" and then he scuttled back to where he and LaNiecy were barricaded.

Seeley stood back and grabbed Wendell and Fischer and said in a conspiratorial whisper, "this looks like fun, let's see if we can help Grayson and LaNiecy, go get Alana and come back here." He pointed towards where she was standing a slightly scared expression on her face. Bringing her over, Fischer said, "Okay boss, what's the plan?" he'd turned his ball cap around backwards like the rest of them and was crouched into a mini huddle. Seeley said, "Okay, Alana you go straight in and join the girls, Fischer and I will flank the outside of the kitchen and meet in the middle with Grayson and LaNiecy, Wendell when I whistle, you come up through the middle, we'll throw eggs to you, you get the girls. They won't expect you to be here if they see just Alana and Fischer. What do you think?"

"I think I'm going to get my $$ kicked by a 90 lb girl" Wendell said, "Why don't Fischer and I flank and you take the hit from the middle?" he wasn't optimistic that he'd be able to dodge the girls once they figured out they were surrounded. "I mean, you're the offensive player here, I'm just a dumb blocker."

"Fine, you and Fischer block, I'll run up the middle, Alana will distract them okay?" They actually put their hands into the middle of the circle and whispered "break" which made Alana laugh silently. Just as they were about to put their plan in motion, a soft Texas drawl stopped them, "I see the annual food fight has begun. It never fails; we'll be cleaning eggs or flour out of the vents for months. If it's not at this house, it's the ranch in Texas. Are you sure you all want to get in the middle of it? I did once, walked with a limp for a month" he winked at Alana and then put his glasses on. "I'll be back sometime this evening kids, you all have fun."

Seeley raised his eyebrow at Wendell and then nodded to the room where another burst of laughter erupted. "I'm going in" Fischer said, "Cover me" He and Wendell took off, running as quick as they could down the edge of the kitchen and jumped behind the Island. Grayson was momentarily surprised but high fived them as they slunk down, at the same time that they started running Alana ran in and slid on her knees behind the girls. They shrieked and then grabbed her and told her it was good to have her there, Tempe saw Fischer out of the corner of her eye and knew they were going to help Grayson and his bride. Alana said, "Seeley is behind me, he's going to get the guys to throw to him and then he's going to get you from behind, he says you won't expect it."

Angela snorted and said, "Okay, so when we hear the 'signal' everyone turn and throw at Seeley, okay?" Grinning broadly Tempe and Alana agreed. They slowly filled up their hoody pockets with eggs and sat on their heels so they could turn and fire. Just then there was a piercing whistle, turning quickly they saw Seeley come into view and they started pelting him with eggs as he was trying to catch the air bombs being thrown by the guys. Not able to withstand the hits and still catch at the same time he turned and ducked back behind the doors again.

Looking down he was completely covered in eggs, dripping from his hair, his pants everywhere. The girls were laughing and high fiving each other and Tempe shouted, "You had better get a lot better at strategy before you join the Army Mr. Booth, that was terrible!" she was laughing hysterically and the others were all joining in. Fischer shouted, "Alana, you turncoat!"

Smirking she said, "Hey, I'm a girl and we stick together!" Marie hugged them all and said, "I love it when we win!"

Seeley realized that he was defeated and his plan had totally backfired, so he took off his white t-shirt and waved it outside the door and then whistled again. Seeing the white flag of truce flying Tempe said loudly, "do you all concede victory?"

Reluctantly there was a chorus of yes's from behind the island. Standing up almost completely unscathed, LaNiecy made her way to the other girls and said, "Next year, I'm on their team Grayson, you are not very skilled at fighting with food." Laughing, he stood and began to dole out the towels to wipe themselves off, "Okay dear."

Seeley came from around the door; the only part of him not covered in goop was his bare, muscular chest. The girls eyes all widened and then there was a collective sigh, at which point Tempe said in a mock menacing tone, "back off girls, that's all mine!" and she walked over, completely covered herself in flour, cinnamon and eggs and hugged him tight. Growling he said, "You are so going to pay for that!"

"I hope so!" she said leaning up to kiss him. The rest of them began cleaning up the counters and themselves as she handed him a towel. After they had cleaned up as much as they could without actually shucking clothes and showering, they began to get the things ready to prepare the pies. They were going to make 2 dozen of them, that way everyone would have one to take home and there would be enough to donate to the mission downtown as well. Tempe was overwhelmed with the military precision that Marie and Angela operated under while assigning tasks to each of them. They set up the pie making in an assembly line style, but still it did take time. Chatting casually they all talked about past Thanksgivings with their families and friends. Marie told them about past holidays in Texas with Billy and his band mates, before she moved up here to be with the main household. After a few hours the whole house was permeated with the smell of apple pies, pumpkin pies, as well as the homemade cinnamon rolls Grayson and LaNiecy made for breakfast the next day.

Once the pies were cooking and cooling simultaneously, they started in on getting the rest of things that they could pre-prepare done. Tempe and Alana worked on the vegetables and Angela showed them how to make the radishes into roses. The guys were working on making the marinades for the chicken wings to be served during the game as well as some of the other treats that would be served. Through it all, LaNiecy and Grayson supervised, she helped them with the stuffed peppers and the Portobello caps. They'd even purchased a Tofurkey for Temperance, which made her feel very much at home.

Before anyone really knew it, it was dark and they were mostly prepared for the next days' festivities. Alana and Fischer left to catch a movie and Wendell left to go pack and get ready to leave for his Gran's house the next day. Angela, Tempe and Seeley decided they would play some cards for an hour or so before he left and the girls began to decorate the dining room. They had decided to go with a black and white theme. Angela had ordered red roses that had been delivered today and were on ice in the freezer, she knew that just the one color mixed with the black and white would create the drama they were looking for. When the cards were done and Seeley had to go, Tempe walked him to the door. He'd put his hoody on at some point during the day and his egg covered t-shirt was in the large kangaroo pocket.

Standing close to him under the porch light, she put her hands on his abs and stroked up his chest to his pecs. Seeley merely stood there and let her touch him, all the while reciting hockey stats in his head to try to keep the inevitable from happening. Just when he thought he wouldn't be able to hold it any longer, she stood on her tip toes and kissed his bottom lip. Lightly licking his top lip, she kissed him softly before pulling away and saying, "Good night Seeley Booth, I'll see you in the morning" she turned to go and he reached out and grabbed her arm. "I know you aren't thinking you can just walk away after that, were you?" he leaned down and kissed her mouth, then moved to her jaw line, his lips softly trailing kisses to just below her ear, one hand on her back, the other moving her hair out his way. Sighing softly she put her hands back under his hoody and said, "I'm never going to let you go Seeley Booth, never."

Relaxing against her somewhat he moved to kiss her again and whispered against the top of her head, "I'll always be here, no matter what, always right here." He pulled her close and hugged her and then he was down the porch and heading to his truck. Waving as she went inside, he started the truck and drove down the driveway to the street outside. Tempe watched him turn left onto the street from one of the large windows that faced the front and then went to her room. Angela was taking a bath and singing at the top of her lungs, so she climbed into her pajamas and pulled out her journal again. She wrote and wrote until Angela came out, "I've used most of the hot water and all of the towels, but you should still be able to get most of the egg out of your hair Sis" she said before taking her towel off her hair and moving to the end of Temperance's bed. "What you got there?" she asked pointing to the journal. "Oh, nothing, just thought I'd write some stuff down. It's no big deal."

She got up and put the journal in her desk and said, "I'll take a quick one, I want to get up early to help Marie and LaNiecy with the rest of the cooking, it was so much fun! Is Billy inviting anyone else besides us?" she wondered, gathering up her soiled clothes. "Yeah, Dusty and Harmonia are coming and a couple of his business friends; they'll talk shop though and then leave, so mostly we'll be family. Do you mind?" Angela wasn't sure that Tempe would be up to a huge introduction quite yet.

"No, I don't mind, I think it'll be fun. I'm glad Max is coming; he and Hank get along real well, so it's just Jared that will be odd man out. Seeley said that he hoped he wouldn't bring Howard; he was going to find out tonight. That kid is creepy if you ask me."

"I've only seen him once, so I don't know if he's creepy or not, but if he keeps Jared entertained and not bored or lonely and doesn't steal from me than he can come. I'll lock his creepy $$ in a closet if I have to." She laughed and then tossed a rolled up pair of socks at Tempe, "Go take your shower, I'm going to bed. Night babe" she hugged her and walked through the bathroom to her own room. Tempe hugged her back and went to take a shower. While she was waiting for the water to heat up she sat on the edge of the tub and wondered what Seeley was doing. If she'd only known he was standing in his room staring out the window and wondering what she was doing, she may have felt better. As it was, she just felt…lonely.

Not sure where the feeling was coming from, she shook her head to clear it and then jumped in the shower. When she was done she got her pajama's on again and went to her bedroom. Plugging her phone into the charger she looked and saw there was a text, "Hey Bone Lady, see you in the morning, thanks for a great day and I love you, BMOC".

She texted him back, "Ditto" and then turned off the lamp and went to sleep. Seeley was sitting cross legged on his bed waiting to hear from her. When he got her text, he smiled and plugged the phone in and lay back on his bed. Sitting up suddenly, he got the small velvet box out and opened it up. Holding it in his hand, he turned the light on and watched the light dance across the many facets. Closing his hand around it, he said a silent prayer and then put it away and closed his eyes to sleep.


	26. Chapter 85

Chapter 85

Thursday morning Tempe got up earlier than normal and got ready for the day. She was planning on wearing a long skirt, off the shoulder peasant blouse and her hair up in curls. She decided to change after she helped get the rest of the food ready. Seeley, Hank and Jared were going to be there about 10 in the morning, Dusty and Harmonia were planning on arriving around noon. They were going to stay in the guest house for the rest of the weekend. Going into the bathroom, she took a long shower and then went straight to her room and pulled on sweats and a t-shirt. Angela had woken up with the sound of the shower and came in to see if she needed help with the curlers. Deciding that she probably did, Angela put her hair up for her and lacquered it with hair spray and gel. "With any luck when that dries you'll have something that resembles curls and not a tangled mess."

"Thanks Ange" She said as she looked at the big mirror behind the sink. She decided to try one of the facial masks that Angela had bought her too and slathered it all on. When Angela got out of the shower she did a double take, Tempe had gone even further than the facial, and she had her toes separated and fresh polish drying on her nails, and was sitting with her feet up on the counter. Laughing hysterically and trying to hold the towel around herself she said, "What are you doing Temper?"

"I thought since no one else was up, I'd wait a little before going to the kitchens and I found the facial stuff we bought and then when I was looking through the drawers I found the nail polish and it was a pretty color so I thought I'd try it out. Why? Does it look bad?" She was suddenly wondering if she'd done something wrong.

"No, I just think it's funny that you have started to come around on the girl front. Must be Studly's influence on you" she winked and went into her own room to get ready. Tempe just smiled and leaned back in her chair and tried to will the nail polish to dry faster. After about 10 minutes of idle sitting she decided to write a bit more before going to the kitchen, so she carefully heel walked to her room & pulled out her journal. She dived into writing and was lost for the next hour. Angela came in with Marie and said, "Hey, Mark Twain, you wanna come to breakfast? We have fresh cinnamon rolls and coffee."

Looking up and stretching her back she put the book away and took the toe separators out, her toenails were dry and she was able to walk normally to the bathroom to wipe off the facial cream. Her face was pink and slightly shiny after the mask was removed, but very soft to the touch. She made a kissy face at herself in the mirror and then walked out to go meet the rest of the household for breakfast and to get the game plan for the rest of the day. When she walked down the hall she could smell the cinnamon rolls and followed the smell into the nook where Billy, Marie, Grayson and LaNiecy were already seated. She took a roll and a cup of coffee and sat down next to Angela. They went over the menu and what time everything needed to be ready, as well as when Grayson should go to the airport to pick up Dusty and Harmonia. The Booth's would be over around 10 and the football games started at 11, so they would be laying out the first part of the meal around 10:30 or so. Tempe thought that they were all very well organized and was really looking forward to the whole day.

She and Angela started decorating the dining room and started to bring in some additional tables and things for the media room. The TV was centrally located and there was more than enough seating available, they just wanted to have places to set things down for the inevitable cheering. The Dallas Cowboys were playing the early game and Billy was prepared to root his team to victory. They were playing the hated Washington Redskins. The second game was the hapless Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers, no one really cared who won or lost that game, but as tradition went, they'd watch both games. Billy was anxious to get back on the road, he loved being at the house, living and learning about his newest daughter, but traveling was in his blood and he would be glad when he would be able to go back out on the road. He would be back often enough that she wouldn't be abandoned, and Grayson was going to be there full time. Angela was going to be leaving for school in January, so he thought he might come back then for a couple of weeks too. He hadn't broached the subject with them yet, but he thought the girls might enjoy going to Hawaii for Christmas. He was planning on bringing it up after the black Friday shopping trip. Until that was over he could offer them anything and Angela wouldn't even pay attention.

Once everything was ready to go, Tempe went to get dressed, Seeley would be arriving anytime and she wanted to be in her nice clothes before he got there. She got dressed and Angela helped her pull the perfectly formed curls into a cascading crown from the top of her head. Combined with light makeup she was teen magazine model perfect. A spritz of Cinnabar later and she was waiting in the lobby for them to show up. Right on time, Seeley rang the doorbell. Opening it, she welcomed Hank and Jared and then Seeley. He handed her an entire bouquet of Daffodils and had a spring mix for Angela as well. The introductions were made and Billy took Hank and Jared off to the media room where they were watching the tail end of the parade, preparing for football. Seeley and Tempe took the flowers to put them into vases and she said, "You look very nice today Big Man." He was wearing khaki slacks, a navy blue sweater and a crisp white button down shirt. "Thanks lady, you look incredible. I like what you did with your hair" she blushed and said, "This? Oh, it was nothing" and smiling she linked her arm in his and walked into the media room to watch the start of the football game.

Grayson showed up about an hour later with Dusty and Harmonia and the introductions were made. They joined right in with the festivities and soon everyone was shouting at and enjoying the football game and the food that had been set out. After the end of the last game, Billy and Dusty challenged Jared to a round of guitar hero, except they would use their real guitars and he could use the game guitar. Everyone was interested in the challenge and Jared was more than ready to take on the two legendary rock stars. Everyone got into the competition and even though Jared was able to hold his own, it was a clear victory for Billy and Dusty after a couple of hours.

Marie came into the media room and told everyone it was time for the meal, so teasing Jared good naturedly they all trouped off to the dining room. The table was beautifully set, there were silver serving dishes full of the traditional Thanksgiving foods, two large platters with the Tofurkey and the regular bird, one at each end of the table, open bottles of wine, gravies, salads, everything was exquisitely prepared and steaming fresh from the ovens. Sitting down, everyone grabbed hands as Hank recited the blessing. Seeley squeezed her hand when everyone said "Amen" at the end and they started passing dishes. Billy stood and held his glass high, "A toast, I'm thankful for the oldest friends and family at this table, I'm thankful too for the newest members and I'm hopeful that we will all be together now and in the future." He nodded and sat and everyone clinked glasses before digging into their plates, or passing plates down the table. Throughout the meal there were more toasts, amusing stories about past holiday meals, reminiscing about missing family and friends and everyone felt completely and totally at home.

After the meal, the kitchen staff removed the plates and cleared the table and brought out the pies. Telling everyone how they had all made them from scratch, Angela and Tempe were boasting at how well they would all taste, "Did we have a food fight again this year?" Harmonia asked with a wry twist of her mouth, "I seem to remember some pretty graphic ones in the past."

"Yes, and as always we girls persevered and won, even with the additional support of Seeley and his merry men trying to help" Angela said raising her glass. "We would have won if there hadn't been a traitor in our midst" Seeley muttered under his breath. Laughing and nudging his shoulder, Tempe leaned over and kissed him softly, "Next time maybe we'll let you win" she said.

"Not me Brennan, I'm a winner!" Angela said strongly.

Everyone dug in and agreed that the pies were just as good as the girls proclaimed them to be. After dessert people pushed back from the table and Billy said, "There is coffee in the media room if anyone wants any? It's a tradition in our house to watch 'It's A Wonderful Life' on Thanksgiving Day, if anyone would like to join us?" Everyone agreed that it would be a good way to end the evening and followed him and Angela to the media room. Bringing up the rear, Seeley took Tempe by the arm and said, "Hey, I was wondering if you and I could go somewhere and talk for a few minutes?" the box had been burning a hole in his pocket and he was dying to give it to her. He knew that when the movie was over she and Angela would be going straight to bed, as they were getting up at 1 in the morning to go shopping. "I'd love to" She said smiling, "Want to see my room?"

Smiling back at her he said, "More than anything Little One, lead the way" and they walked down the hall to her room. Entering, she turned on the light and then showed him the things that she and Angela had bought for it. He told her he liked how she had it decorated and made the appropriate noises over her fully stocked closet, but Tempe sensed something was off, taking his hand she led him to the bed and sat down on the edge, "What's wrong Seeley?" She asked hesitantly.

"Nothing's wrong Tempe, why do you ask?" He said, holding her hand in his.

"I don't know, you just seem nervous or tense, are you okay?" she was looking at his face and he flushed slightly before responding. "I am a little nervous to be honest" he told her. He stood and walked to the head of the bed and kicked his shoes off before sitting back down, his back against the headboard, legs outstretched on the bed. "Would you come sit with me?" he asked her quietly. Wondering what it was that had him so tense, she nodded and crawled over to his lap, sitting with her back against his chest, she said, "Like this?"

"Yeah, that's perfect" he told her wrapping one arm around her middle and holding her hand. This close to him she could feel the sound of his voice rumbling in his chest against her back. Sighing she leaned her head back softly and said, "What is it Seeley?" He dipped his head slightly and kissed her temple and said, "The first time I saw you, I didn't see you. I saw a girl that was being picked on and I felt bad about that, because it was my girlfriend doing it. When I caught up to you and looked into your eyes, I saw a little more about you and it made me catch my breath and all of a sudden my whole body was hot and then cold and my mind was swirling, my chest was tight and I didn't know why. After we had lunch that first day I knew what it was, it was love. I had always wondered what it was about that word that people talked about, I mean, I thought I was in love with Payton but she never made me feel like that. You can make me feel a hundred different emotions at one time with just a glance. I spoke to Angela the next night to find out more about you, I wanted so desperately to make you see that I wasn't just those things that you spouted off to me; I wanted to get to know you. Angela told me about the Sweets and a little about your life as she knew it." he took a deep breath, his thumb lightly rubbing over her hand and he squeezed her fingers before continuing, "All I wanted to do right then and there was take you away and see if you could feel for me the way that I felt for you, I still hadn't said more than 10 words to you I think by then. After we started spending time together, I knew that I would need to go slow and show you how wonderful you really were and that you weren't destined to end up with them and weren't supposed to be a pawn in their fairytale. Then the whole thing with Payton came up and it just seemed like the odds were stacking further and further against us, but you fought, you showed me that you had the strength to overcome anything and I loved you even more."

She twisted around and put her cheek to his chest, her eyes wet with tears. "I love you too Seeley" she said into his sweater. He reached down and tipped up her chin, lighting resting his lips on hers, he kissed her slowly and then with more urgency. Feeling the familiar surge of passion she tried to get closer to him and he wrapped his hand in her hair, their kisses becoming more and more frantic. This time, she pulled back first and said haltingly, "Wow, we have got to stop that, every time it's like a match to kindling with us, and I don't think this is the best time to start something." Kissing her cheek and forehead, he agreed and she turned back, squirming to try and find a comfortable position now that he was fully aware of her presence. He gently stopped her, his hands on her shoulders and whispered, "Okay kid, you gotta stop that or I'm not going to be responsible."

She giggled and leaned back, he took her hand again and continued, "I got you something, something that when I first saw it, brought everything that we had come across into the forefront. It reminds me of where we started, and where we are now. I wanted to wait to give it to you until your birthday or Christmas, but when it arrived the other day I knew I couldn't wait. I know that you don't traditionally give gifts at Thanksgiving, but I couldn't think of a better time to give it to you until today. Seeing you with your new family and mine, everything has just come full circle." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small velvet box, "Close your eyes and hold out your hand" he whispered into her ear. His warm breath on her ear and his deep voice were combining to make her mind reel. "You don't have to give me anything" She said, closing her eyes and holding her hand out. "I didn't get you anything."

"You've given me more than you could ever know" he told her, placing the box in her hand. When she felt it's weight, she opened her eyes and looked at the small box for a moment before saying quietly, almost secretly, "I'm afraid to open it Seeley" she hoped that it wasn't a ring, she wasn't ready for that, even if he was, and didn't know how to tell him that without hurting him, "you don't have to be afraid Tempe, I promise" he told her, reaching around to open the box himself.

Nestled inside the box was a very delicate gold chain, and hanging from the middle of the long strand was a cut glass slipper. Reminiscent of the slipper worn and lost by Cinderella, no larger than a quarter it was cut into multi facets, making it appear to glow from the light that was hitting it. There was a small diamond in the heel that picked up even more light. Picking it up carefully, she held it aloft and allowed the fire to burn from it as it swung gracefully in her hand. She grasped it lightly and her breath caught in her throat, "It's beautiful Seeley" she said, "I've never seen anything like it before, it's so beautiful, I can't take this, it's too much" she told him turning towards him, "I don't deserve this."

"You deserve this and so much more," he told her softly, "Do you really like it?" he wasn't sure if she would understand how much he thought it suited her and her life.

"I really do, is that how you see me?" she asked carefully.

"It is, I've seen your fairytale come true and it was every bit as Cinderella as it could be. I know I'm no Prince Charming but I hope that I'm close enough?" he winked and gave her a crooked grin. The grin that she loved more than anything, her grin.

"You may not be royal, but you're a prince Seeley. As lame as that sounds, I mean, it's not lame, it…damn, well you know what I'm trying to say." She told him, still holding the necklace in her hand. He reached around and after fumbling slightly with the clasp, he put it around her neck, she reached up and held the charm, "thank you Seeley, for believing in me, for being there for me and for loving me" she told him. He held her close and said quietly into her hair, "Anytime princess, anytime."

The two of them held each other and just being close was enough, they fell asleep like that. Angela had noticed that they didn't come into the movie so she went looking for them, knowing they would be somewhere cuddled up, she saw them asleep on her bed and turned off the main light and leaving on a lamp, she went back to the media room to watch the rest of the movie. All too soon it was time for everyone to leave and while Jared and Hank were trying to convince Billy they didn't need to take a pie home and saying good bye to everyone, she went and woke the two of them up.

She gently tapped Seeley on his shoulder, and he opened his eyes and looked around and then smiled as he realized that they'd fallen asleep in each other's arms again. "Hey Big Man, it's time to go, me and little sis got some hard core shopping to do and your grandpa is waiting for you."Nodding at her, he said, "Okay, Ange, let me get her settled, I'll be there in a minute."

He slid out from behind her, only barely stirring her awake and when she said quietly, "don't go Seeley" his heart lurched, "I'll see you on Saturday princess, you need to sleep so you can shop til you drop tomorrow, call me, I love you." He pulled the blanket up around her and kissed her forehead. "I love you too Prince Charming" she said sleepily and cuddled into the blanket. He grabbed his shoes and walked into the hallway. Shaking hands with everyone, he and his grandpa and brother left to go to their own home.

5 hours later Angela tip toed back into her room and shook her shoulder gently, "Tempe? Sweetie? It's time to get up hon, come on." Slowly coming to consciousness, Tempe blinked her eyes at Angela sitting on the edge of her bed, "What time is it? Where's Seeley?" She asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "It's 2 in the morning, I let you sleep an hour, and he left a while ago, come on get up" she turned on the lamp by the bed and saw the necklace around her neck, "Oh my God, that's beautiful Tempe, did Seeley give you that?" she reached over to touch the charm.

"Yeah, he did, it's really beautiful don't you think?" she fingered the charm gently. Angela sniffed and said, "I didn't know he would take that fairy tale metaphor so literally" Angela said, looking at her best friend. "He really loves you."

"I didn't realize I was Cinderella this whole time Angela, I never felt like a princess or anything, I'm just a girl. Just plain me." She looked over at her and smiled, "At least I thought I was."

"You just didn't realize it at the time, even though the rest of us did. Come on, let's get a move on, I can just hear the sales starting to rev up without me!" She leaned over and hugged her and then left to go finish getting ready in her own room. Tempe got up and pulled her now unruly curls up into a ponytail and put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, topped with his football jersey and hoody. She grabbed her purse and her phone and headed to the kitchen to grab a snack before they left. As she was walking by the front door, the doorbell chimed and she ran to open it, standing on the front porch was Tatum, dark jean, black shirt and leather jacket; he looked imposing, handsome and dangerous. He broke into a wide smile when he saw it was her answering the door, "Hey Tempe, how are you?" he asked as he came inside. "Hi Tatum! It's good to see you again, are you ready for this?" she asked over her shoulder as she close the door behind him and indicated he should follow her to the kitchen. Following her he realized that she was much younger than he had originally thought, but no less beautiful.

Angela came into the kitchen and the two of them were eating a slice of pie and drinking milk. She'd never seen Temperance drink milk in her entire life, so she raised her eyebrow and said, "What's going on in here?"

Looking up, Tatum smiled and said, "Nothing Ange, she offered me a piece of pie, I took her up on it, are we ready to go?" he put his plate and hers in the sink and then finished off his milk in one gulp. Tempe said, "I'm ready" and she attempted to chug hers too. Never destined to like the stuff too much she made a face and put her glass next to his. "Okay kiddo, why don't you go outside, I want to show Tatum something real quick and then we'll go" She smiled at Temperance, who grabbed her purse and said, "Okay" brightly, completely oblivious to the tension radiating from Angela. When she left the room Angela turned her full attention to him, "Okay buster, I saw you staring at her the last time we went shopping, and I picked up on all the lovey dovey vibes, but I'm putting the kibosh on it right now. That is my 16 year old sister. You are at least 10 years older than her, and not only is it completely unprofessional but it's just plain creepy. No matter how hot you are. Not to mention, her boyfriend is huge and loves her more than he loves breathing and I don't think you want to get into the middle of that particular sandwich, understand?" She was standing in front of him, staring into his impossibly gorgeous green eyes, hands on her hips and fire in her own eyes.

Thinking that he had overstepped his bounds, and knowing that Angela was totally right to be upset, he said, "I'm sorry Angela, I didn't realize she was only 16 and I know that I shouldn't let my emotions show, something about her just hit me like a ton of bricks, do you want me to call another driver? I don't want to ruin your day or hers" He said sincerely.

"No, just keep it cool Tatum, she likes you and she's had a rough go of it, she needs friends and that's it." Nodding to her, he held out his arm towards the door, "I read you Angela, loud and clear, nothing more than a friendly bodyguard slash driver, got it" he said with a sad smile. Looking at him for just a second more she grudgingly exited the kitchen towards the front door.

The three of them headed out to the first of many stops on their whirlwind shopping experience. They shopped for hours at the mall, and then he took them to breakfast where they got their second burst of energy and headed downtown to hit some stores there. Shopping all day, barely pausing to eat lunch, by the time they got back to the house almost 18 hours later, they were all exhausted. Tatum had been the perfect companion, holding their bags while they tried on everything from shoes to hats, loading the truck, keeping them fed and by the end of their adventure, he'd developed a healthy respect for Temperance and decided that if she ever needed him, he'd be there, a friend or whatever she wanted. Angela had stopped being so standoffish with him halfway through the day, and he knew they'd be okay too.


	27. Chapter 86

Chapter 86

After unloading all of their purchases, Tatum left to drop the rental off and head home. The girls were exhausted and mumbled good nights to each other as they went to their separate bedrooms. Tempe and Seeley had talked a couple of times during the day and texted as well. She was looking forward to a long nights sleep and her head had barely hit the pillow before she was out for the count. Waking up the next day, she yawned and sat up in bed, it was almost noon. She looked at her phone and saw that he texted her, "Call me when you get up, gone to Zams-BMOC." She went through the bathroom and saw that Angela was still sleeping, not really wanting to do anything, she grabbed her journal and a pen and sat back down on the bed, turning the radio on, she called him, and after telling him about the shopping and most of the things she'd bought, they both decided to try and get together that evening, he was working with a pee wee team and didn't know what time he'd be done, but told her he'd call her when he was. They hung up and she started to write. It was another two hours before Angela stumbled in and the two of them went to the kitchen to get something to eat.

"Another successful trip?" Billy asked when they came in, he grinned around his beard and nodded to the coffee pot, "There's a fresh pot of wake up if you ladies would like some" They each got a cup of coffee and then told him about their trip. He talked to them about when he was going back on tour and asked about Hawaii for Christmas. The two of them both squealed and told him they'd love to spend Christmas on the islands. Eventually Billy left to meet up with Dusty and Harmonia in the studio and the two of them went back to Tempe's room. Angela decided she would try to do a little sketching, so turning up the radio a little, she walked into her room singing at the top of her lungs about a good girl gone bad and Tempe decided to write a little bit more.

She and Seeley did meet up that evening, and they had a great time, they went to a local under 18 clubs and listened to music and had dinner. The next day as well they hung out and had a wonderful time. School started back on Monday and over the next 6 months she and Seeley spent a lot of time together. They had a skating party for her at Zams on her 17th birthday, it was after hours and everyone was there, Zack, Max, Alana, Kersten, Sammy, the guys, everyone. She really enjoyed it, especially skating in his arms. Billy had gone on tour, but joined them in Hawaii for Christmas and they had a great and relaxing time, they'd all come back tan and happy. Payton had been withdrawn from school, so Tempe was left to finish the biology project on her own and she actually had the best presentation in the class.

The museum class was every bit as productive and Zach and Tempe became even better friends while they were lab partners. She'd even become pretty good friends with Tatum, she requested him anytime that she needed someone to take her somewhere, if Grayson was unavailable. In fact, he was the one that actually taught her to drive, and was there with Grayson and Seeley and Angela when she got her license. He'd met Seeley and the two of them had actually formed a weird sort of truce. He'd asked him to watch out for her when he left for the Army, and Tatum had agreed that he'd watch her like the sister she'd become to him.

Angela left for New York and at first she and Tempe missed each other miserably, but she came home on weekends and they developed a pretty simple routine. Unfortunately, Angela and Wendell weren't quite able to keep it together over the long distance, but they'd remained friends. He was actually dating a girl he'd met at Zams, and although they didn't all hang out as often, she did fit in pretty well with their little band of friends.

Time flew by as it so often does when left unchallenged and before anyone knew it, it was two days until graduation.

Seeley had turned in his enlistment paperwork and unfortunately he was going to be leaving Pittsburgh sooner than he'd anticipated. In fact, he was leaving three days after graduation. Tempe was devastated. She kept looking at the clock and willing time to slow down. He would be gone for 16 weeks and then back for a weekend, and then would be going wherever he was told to go. She couldn't believe that he was going to be gone so soon. He'd turned 19 and had gotten even more handsome if that was possible. The past 6 months seemed to have gone by in the blink of an eye. She didn't cry in front of him each time they parted, she waited until she got home. She wanted to appear strong. She wore her glass slipper every day as well as his class ring; she'd wrapped a rubber band around it so that it fit her finger better. She slept in his jersey every night and his hoody was never very far away...

During the graduation ceremonies, she'd cheered loudly for him and Wen and Fischer when their names had been called, she cried silent tears when his senior slide show was presented, but laughed at the pictures of him as a little kid in his Superman under-roos standing in a kiddie pool, when they were done and had tossed their caps, she made her way down to the main floor and straight into his arms. Max and Hank shook his hand and she took their photos, him and Jared, him and the guys, Angela had come home early and was there, she took photos' of the two of them together as well. Billy had sent him season tickets to the Flyers for graduation and told him he was proud of him, he'd been in Europe and was unable to get back for the actual ceremony.

After all the congratulations and pictures, he'd eschewed going to the after parties with the rest of his friends choosing instead to have dinner at her house. He wanted to spend his last few days with her. Up until today he'd been spending a lot of time at home, trying to soak up as much time with his grandpa and his brother as he could. She'd joined him often over there, but tonight she'd invited him over she wanted to spend the time just the two of them. She'd helped Marie cook most of the afternoon of his graduation and had set up a small table in her room, complete with candlelight and roses. It was beautiful and intimate and she hoped that she would be able to keep it together.

She and Seeley left the graduation ceremonies, she was driving the VW Bug and he could barely fit in it. "When I'm gone, learn to drive the Explorer, okay?" he grumbled as he tried to fold his frame into it. Smiling at him she said, "When you're gone, I won't need to, this is perfect for me." Neither one of them wanted to admit that he was leaving in three days. They'd been sniping at each other for the past couple of weeks, not out of any sense of malice, but because they were both afraid, and hurt and just wanted time to forever freeze so they'd never be apart. They both knew that and would try to soothe the other's hurt feelings as best they could.

Going into her room, she turned the lights to dim and told him she'd be right back. Marie was bringing in a service tray and hugged him tight and said in her softly accented voice, "Congratulations Seeley, make sure you come home okay?" he hugged her back and told her he would. He was suddenly feeling overwhelmed and was scared. Was he doing the right thing? He knew that he had to do what he needed to, it felt right to join the Army, it felt right to serve his country. What scared him was that she still had two more years of high school and neither of them knew where he would be in that time. Did they have what it took to keep their love going?

He walked around her room and looked at the numerous framed photos' she had put in there. There was a couple of shots from the Winter Formal, a few from prom, casual shots of them at Zams, the park, him on the ice playing his final season at St. Agnes, a couple of just the two of them holding each other. Next to her bed was the shot of her and the Sweets, as well as the first picture the two of them ever took together. He picked up the tiny frame and touched the glass with his finger. He still had his first shot of her in his wallet, creased and worn, he looked at it often. He'd gotten more and newer pictures of them and they were in his wallet too, but that one was his favorite.

Tempe came out of the bathroom and locked the door from her side, going to her bedroom door she shut and locked it as well. Seeing him standing by her bed holding the picture, she said softly, "Seeley?" Turning, he simply stared. She'd let her hair grow and it was down past her shoulders, she had changed into a pink, sleeveless camisole top and matching pink shorts. Setting down the picture he walked over to her and held her in his arms. He leaned down and kissed her softly before standing up and gently pulling his fingers through her long hair. "You look beautiful, so sweet and innocent" he said. Smiling she took his hand and led him to the table, "Well, I wanted tonight to be special, but I didn't know how to do that, so I hope this works?"

"Oh it works" he told her. He'd realized what she was doing almost immediately, he knew that she wanted to run this show and he wasn't going to do anything to rush her. He could feel it, tonight was a big night and he'd do whatever she wanted him to. The two of them sat down and began to eat, they talked quietly about graduation, the other picture slide shows, and how it had all seemed to happen so fast. They specifically avoided any mention of how short their time was. When he was done eating and she'd managed to push her food around her plate a couple of hundred times, he said quietly, "What's wrong little one?"

"I want you to stay Seeley. I hate that about myself, but I'm selfish. I need you to stay here. With me. Let someone else go fight for this country, I just want you to stay. I've been by your side almost every day for the past 10 months and I can't imagine what it's going to be like when you aren't there. I can't text you, call you or touch you and I hate it!" She tried hard to squelch the tears that gathered in her lashes and fell softly down her cheeks, but failed. He stood up and came around to her side of the table, taking her hand and helping her stand, he held her in his arms, tight against his chest. He said, "I want to stay too Tempe, I do, but I can't. You're not being selfish, you have every right to be mad and I'm glad you are. It tells me that we have a chance. I don't know what I'm going to do not being able to talk to you anytime I want to. I'll write to you when I can, during basic we can't have any contact for the first few weeks, but when we can, I'll burn up the phone lines, the internet everything." He'd started to cry too and she turned her face up to him and kissed him.

Their tears mingling, he picked her up in his arms and carried her over to the bed, laying her down carefully, he took his suit jacket off and started to take off his tie, when she got onto her knees and said quietly, "let me" she carefully untied his tie and unbuttoned his shirt, pushing it off of his shoulders carefully and slowly. Then she lay back down and he lay beside her, softly kissing her, touching her face and tracing his fingers down her arm and side. She stopped kissing him and stared at him, her eyes bright from the tears and putting her hand in his said softly, "I love you Seeley, and I'm ready."

"Are you sure Temperance, you don't have to do this." He said back, equally as soft. She smiled and said, "Once a long time ago you told me to stop telling you what you had to do and now I'm saying it to you, I know what I have to do and what I don't. I want to do this and I will" she kissed his bottom lip and laid her head back on the pillow. Looking at her, seeing his love reflected in her eyes Seeley dipped his head to hers and kissed her lips. The two of them began that age old dance and spent the evening wrapped in each other's arms. They spent the next full day alone in her room and tried to make enough memories to last them through the long uncertain time up ahead.

Reluctantly after spending the night and the entire next day together, locked in her room, eating leftovers and making love, talking and holding each other he had to go and spend his last day in town with his grandpa and brother. She was going to spend the next day with Angela and then see him off at the airport. She knew he had to say goodbye to his family, but all she wanted him to do was stay with her. Knowing that it was like taking off a band aid, he got up and got dressed before she woke up and would make him stay. He kissed her softly on the forehead and said, "I'll see you tomorrow Bone Lady. I love you." And then he left. She was awake when he kissed her forehead, but didn't want to open her eyes. That would make his leaving her too real. She simply waited to hear the door shut and then she cried. She cried for all the time they would lose and because she already missed him. Pulling the pillow close, she inhaled his scent and cried herself into a troubled sleep. Angela came home and went straight to her room where she found her, eyes puffy from crying sitting on her bed, holding Booth and simply staring. "Oh Sweetie, it's going to be ok. You'll see him off tomorrow and then before you know it, he'll be done with basic." Tempe started to cry again at her soft words and Angela reached over and held her. She started to cry too and the two of them simply sat and rocked back and forth and tried to comfort each other.

Seeley had gone home and played Guitar Hero with his brother, and the two of them talked about what he would need to do while he was gone. Hank was getting older and although nowhere near unable to care for his teenage grandson, Seeley just wanted Jared to keep his eyes open and take care of him too. They connected in a way that they hadn't in years, since before they'd come to live with Hank and all they had was each other. "Are you going to say goodbye to mom?" Jared asked as he and Seeley stood on the back porch over the grill and the cooking burgers. Hank was inside, making a salad and trying hard not to cry that his grandson would be gone this time tomorrow. "I think that ship has sailed little brother" he said, "I've said goodbye to the important people in my life already." He reached over and hugged his brother close. "Take care of everybody while I'm gone okay? Call Tempe once in a while, she'll need to hear from us, maybe see if she'll come over to see Pops." He didn't want to get all mushy on his brother, but he wanted him to know how much he cared.

"I will Seel, I will." The burgers were done, and they took them in and the three Booth men spent the night playing dominoes and talking. At midnight Hank told them both to go to bed, they had to be at the airport at 8 the next morning. Jared hugged his brother and tried hard not to cry as he went upstairs; Hank took Seeley into his arms and hugged him tight, "I'm proud of you Shrimp. Prouder of you than I have ever been, I hope you know that. You've become a great man already, and I can't wait to see how much better you'll be when you get back. Keep your head up, be smart and trust yourself. Okay?" he'd stood back and was looking up at his grandson. This boy had become a man overnight it seemed.

"I will Pops, thank you." He couldn't say more, he hugged him back and cried. Patting his back, Hank knew that he was ready to go even if he couldn't see it yet. "Go upstairs, get some sleep and I'll wake you in the morning" Hank said stepping back from him.

Seeley took the stairs two at a time, suddenly desperate to talk to Tempe. Not caring that it was midnight he called her and when she sleepily answered the phone he said, "Hi babe."

"Seeley" She sighed, once again on the verge of tears. "Hi"

"I'm going to sleep, I just had to hear your voice" he told her, holding the phone as close to his ear as he could. "I need to hear it." he whispered to her his voice heavy with emotion.

"I know the feeling" she said. The two of them talked about nothing for the next hour and half and then realizing that she was fading with each long silence, he finally said, "I love you, I'll see you in the morning okay Tempe?"

"I love you too Seeley, I'll see you in my dreams" and she hung up. Holding the phone against his chest he leaned back on his headboard and when the sun came up and through the blinds in the morning he was still sitting there. He'd slept fitfully, desperately trying to memorize everything. Hank came upstairs at 6:45 and knocked on his door, "I'm up Pops" he said.

"Breakfast downstairs Shrimp" was all he said, his voice gruffer than usual. Sighing Seeley stood and took a shower, dressing in jeans and a t-shirt, he headed downstairs. Jared was down there, wide eyed although barely awake. They didn't speak much at breakfast, just absorbed the enormity of the day. All too soon it was time to go to the airport and Seeley drove his Explorer there and parked. Tossing the keys to Jared, he said, "She's all yours kid, take care of her." Jared caught the keys and put them in his pocket. He smiled at his brother and nodded, "I will." The three of them walked into the terminal and Seeley was surprised to see Wendell, Fischer, Alana, Max, Zach, Tatum, Grayson, LaNiecy and Marie there as well as Billy. Angela was holding a sign that said, "Good luck Big Man" on it along with a drawing of him in a uniform he didn't even have yet. He smiled broadly at his friends and family but his eyes were only on one thing. Temperance. She was standing next to Max and Angela, wearing his jersey and jeans, her eyes were rimmed with red and he could tell she'd been crying most of the morning. Dropping his bag he jogged over to her and picked her up. Everyone watched knowing this was going to be the hardest part of the day. He kissed her hard and then softer, never once letting her feet touch the ground.

Other new recruits had been arriving around them, and there were farewells going on everywhere. There was an announcement for boarding and everyone started to head to the gate, the soon to be soldiers didn't have to go through the same stringent security requirements that the rest of the passengers did, so their families were allowed to accompany them right up to the gate. People stared at his entourage, more than one recognizing Billy, but they were conscientious enough to let him alone. One by one all of his friends shook his hand or hugged him, wishing him well and telling him they'd see him when he came home from basic. Soon it was down to him and the two most important girls in his life. Angela hugged him tight and said, "Be careful Big Man, we need you here" and she stepped back, he leaned back down and kissed her cheek and hugged her again, whispering in her ear he said, "Thank you Ange, for everything, take care of her okay? She's going to need you." Patting his back she assured him that she would and then she turned to everyone and said, "Let's go" knowing that he needed to say good bye to her privately, they all turned and headed back into the main terminal.

Seeley held her close as she cried. "Come home" was all she said and when the final boarding call was made; he kissed her softly for the last time and told her he would. She watched him walk through the doors and then went to the glass to watch the plane leave. She didn't know if he could see her or not, but she stood there until the plane left the tarmac and was a blur in the sky. Angela came and took her hand, and the two of them walked into the bright sunshine. "He'll be okay Sweetie" She said.

"Will I?" Tempe said back as the two of them walked to the waiting car and the rest of their lives. Tempe settled into the back of the car as Tatum drove away from the airport, she held the glass slipper in her hand and said to herself, "I love you Seeley Joseph Booth" and stared out the window, wondering if he was doing the same thing.

In the air, Seeley looked towards the ground. He couldn't see anything that far away, but knew in his heart, she was looking up at him he said, "I'll be back before you know it Bone Lady."


	28. Chapter 87A

6 Years Later

Chapter 87A

Army Ranger Sergeant Seeley Booth wiped the sweat from his face-like it would do any good, he'd have to do it again in less than a minute and at least a million more times today. The product of 12 years of Catholic school, Booth was well versed in the reverence of heaven and hell. He'd just never expected hell to exist on the earthly realm. He'd been stationed in Iraq for 3 years, 3 months and 19 days. He'd been a part of this particular regiment for 4 years now. The Rangers. Once he'd joined the Army that had been his one goal. He was going to be among the best of the best and he'd done it. He was a sniper, a ridge runner he went places and did things that no one else could, or would do and he was tired. He was tired of seeing his friends die or get hurt, tired of dealing with raw new recruits who all they thought they walked on water, tired of the heat, the smell, the fear. The fear for his life, the fear that he'd never see home again, Jared, Pops or…her.

Wiping his face again he sat stone still on the cot. Fully dressed in battle fatigues, his gun nearby, he was ready for whatever came his way-whenever. However if he was being honest with himself, he'd never been ready for her. From the first touch to the last he'd been consumed by her, she was never out of his thoughts, and the last thing he saw before he closed his eyes was her clear blue gaze. He saw her smile or the glint of the highlights in her hair as he settled in on a target. 6 months. It had been 6 months since he'd gotten anything from her in the mail. 8 months since he'd even talked to her on the phone. That had been at Christmas, she and Angela had gone to Hawaii again for the holidays, but she'd come back Christmas Eve to spend Christmas Day with Pops and Jared before they went on to Texas to visit their dad. He'd had no idea about the side trip until Pops told him there was someone there to talk to him, he'd hoped for her but knew it was impossible, she was on an island somewhere, tanning and drinking fruity drinks. Hearing the muffled sounds on the phone as it was passed around and being handed off he was completely surprised to hear a sultry voice saying, "Hey Big Man on Campus-it's your Angel."

"ANGELA!" he shouted scaring the guy sitting next to him, "How are you? Where are you? Merry Christmas!"

Angela had laughed and they chatted for a few minutes and then she said, "Boothy-I've got another little surprise for you, are you ready?" he knew then, she was there too. Of course she would be, she and Angela were joined at the hip ever since that first night. Angela had even moved to Illinois to be closer to her while she finished her degree. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled it all when she said, "Hi Seeley." Time and age had matured her body and her mind over the past few years, but her voice was still as soft and innocent as he remembered from HS. "Hey babe" he smiled into the phone, his chest was tight, his bottom lip slightly quivered and he'd had to wipe instant tears from his eyes as he tried to feel her through the phone. "Merry Christmas Tempe how was Hawaii?"

"Oh, it was nice, we had a beach front condo, went to some luaus and explored some really pretty things-we saw some waterfalls, some touristy things-it was hot but nice. I've got a great tan." She sounded like a little girl when she got excited, she was moving out of the room where her adopted family was gathered and heading upstairs to his room, "Guess what else?" she asked him. Closing his eyes he sank back against an A1 Abraham tank and said, "What else babe?" she laughed and said, "No tan lines, the beach was private so we tanned naked!" Booth laughed at the glee in her voice and the two of them talked for another 10 minutes. He had a pre-paid phone that Pops had sent him and there were 5 minutes left. Before she took the phone downstairs she whispered, "Be safe Seeley, you still have to bring my heart back and I love you." He told her he loved her too and then said goodbye as she took the phone downstairs to let him say goodbye to rest of the family. He hadn't heard from her since. He still wrote her all the time. He would write down what he saw on any scrap of paper he could find, sometimes just random thoughts, questions about home, sometimes he'd have time to write long letters, telling her how much he missed her and hoping she was still there for him. He would gather up all the scraps that he wrote on and send them to her once a week. Sometimes he would just send her his impressions, tried to show her some of the beauty he saw, a child playing, a sunset above the sand.

Sighing, he listened to rest of the squadron head to the main tent for mail call. He'd stopped getting excited about the call for mail. Roughly around the same time he stopped receiving mail from her. He still got the occasional snippet of news from Pops; even Jared sent him something when he wasn't in trouble himself, but nothing from her. We wiped his face again and leaned back on the cot and closed his eyes. As always her face floated up for him to concentrate on.

"Sarge?"

Without opening his eyes he said wearily, "What is it Corporal Parker?" the young recruit had imprinted on him like a baby duck. He didn't mind really, he liked the guy…better than most. The kid wasn't afraid of anything, had a good sense of humor and discretion. The problem was that Seeley didn't always want to be a big brother.

"Sarge, Lt. Dan wants to see you ASAP." Lt. Dan was the squad's nickname for 2nd Lt. Forest Daniels. They all thought it was hysterical that he had not one, but two of the names from the movie Forrest Gump. A good natured guy, he didn't mind them teasing him about his name. "Thanks Parker." He got off of his bunk and headed over to the larger tent in the center of the compound. Standing outside the MP ducked in to let the Lt. know he was there. Entering Seeley saluted and waited to be acknowledged, "At ease Sgt. Booth, take a seat would you?" he pointed to a seat on the other side of his desk. "I'm sure you're wondering why you're here, and I'll be brief. You're the best sniper in this unit. You've managed to accomplish some missions that in my opinion were frankly little more than suicide ops. However due to the nature of our unit's business there is an expiration date on snipers and yours is due Booth. You've got 6 months left on this tour and that is going to be spent stateside at Fort McNair. You'll be training new recruits. Of course, you'll also get the promotion to go with it. You leave in 72 hours."

Seeley felt like he'd been hit with a ton of bricks. He looked around to see if there was someone else he could have him confused with. "Sir?" he said in confusion, "I'm going home? Will I be able to come back?"

"Were you planning on re-upping at the end of your commitment?" Lt. Dan asked.

"Well, I'm not sure Sir-I'd like to go to college eventually but right now the Army is all I know, I'm not sure I'm ready to be out."

"You're not out yet Sgt. Booth, you're just in possession of the golden ticket home, you're still a cog in the machine of the US Government. Don't you want to go home?" he asked, honestly puzzled. In the past when he'd sent someone home they were packed before he was done explaining their options.

"Yes Sir, I would like to go to Fort McNair and train, I'm just not sure there is anything else to keep me there when I'm done with this tour." He told him, thinking of her.

"Well, let's worry about all of that later Sgt. Booth, for now, you have 72 hours left here and you are not slated for anything more strenuous than moving equipment until you leave, I would suggest you enjoy what the desert has to offer while you can. That is all." He stood and saluted him and as Seeley executed a precise turn before walking out of the tent he said to himself, "I hope she's still there for you young man, I really hope she is." He recognized the look on the man's face even if he didn't know about the girl personally.

Seeley went back to the makeshift barracks and there were two envelopes on his cot. Setting his gun down, he unbuckled his flak jacket and picked them up. One was a 5x7 envelope that was addressed to him in Angela's handwriting and the other an 8x10 in Tempe's. On the outside of Tempe's Angela had written 'read this first Big Man, love you.' He assumed she must have done it after it left Tempe's hands. His own hands shaking he just simply stared at the envelopes. He'd been there for other guys when they'd gotten the dreaded letter from home and he was afraid to open Tempe's letter now. Shaking it slightly, he could hear the shift of things inside, deciding it was ridiculous to think that this was one of those letters he told himself to buck up and open the damn thing.

Sliding the clasp open and cutting the sealing tape he pulled out the letter, it didn't appear very long, inside the envelope were pictures. Tons of pictures. He shook them out and glanced at some of them, but turned his attention to the letter itself.

Dear Seeley,

I've written some hard things in the past, my dissertation, a grant proposal, etc, but I've never written anything this hard before. Please read the whole letter before you look at the pictures, it will make more sense. I've loved you since I was 16 years old Seeley. 6 years now you've been the person I think of most, the one I worry about always and the one that has my heart. I've been to Europe with Angela and to Hawaii and we've traveled around the US on digs since I've been in school. Everywhere that I go, I wonder what it would be like to see it with you. I wonder what your impression of it would be. I love getting your letters and the little things that you write while on patrol. I can almost see exactly what you do and it makes me feel closer to you. I know that you've been wondering what has happened to me over the past 6 months and I want to tell you first that I'm sorry.

I'm sorry that I wasn't able to write to you as often as I should have. I could blame it on a number of different things, school, my friends, time. But the true blame lies with me. I didn't want to write to you at first. I didn't want to keep trying to pretend and convince myself that nothing had changed, because it had. The longer you're gone, the more I wonder how much more I can take. Each day I force myself to get through one thing at a time so I can move to the next thing just so I don't go crazy. I miss you; I miss your touch, your scent, your taste. I miss the rumble of your voice and how you're eyes get darker when you kiss me, and I'm afraid that missing you is making me crazier with each passing day. If I see someone in fatigues I always check to see if it's you, I look for you everywhere that I go.

Zach is so tired of hearing about you that I think he's avoiding me, granted he's a senior and I'm just a sophomore here, but we used to be quite close. Angela has been working at a local gallery and is just about to finish the rest of her second degree now; she's going to be moving to Washington DC at the end of the semester. They both know what they are doing, they have a plan. I don't. My plan was to go to school, get my degree, go to work, you would come home and we could be together. I don't think that is going to happen now. I'm sorry I'm rambling here; I'm desperately trying to make sense to you.

Seeley, I don't want to hurt you. I know you have no control over what happens to you and I don't blame you for joining the Army. It's what you wanted and needed to do. I understand that. I blame myself for not being strong enough to deal with it while you were gone. I've tried so hard to be positive, positive that you would return, and you'd be the same person. The problem is, I'm not the same person that I was. Each day that I force myself through makes me realize that more and more. I'm not that same silly little girl that you met in HS. I have to start making decisions that will last me the rest of my life and stop living in the past. The reason that I haven't written is because I was scared. Scared of you and me and what was going to happen or what has already happened. I want you to know that I've never been with anyone else, ever. No matter what happens, I want you to know that this is not about physical intimacy. It's about my own cowardice.

The pictures that I've enclosed have all been taken over the past 6-8 months. I wanted to do things with you and since you weren't there, I decided to do them alone. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. I love you Seeley.

Love,

Temperance

Seeley re-read the letter and wondered just what it was she was trying to say. Was she breaking up with him? Was this his 'letter' from home? She didn't specifically say that, was she saying she would wait? He was so confused that he didn't even look at the pictures at first. Staring into space he thought about all the times that they'd had together, he'd never stop loving her. Even if she was ending it, he'd always love her.

Grabbing the first photograph he remembered another time when he'd gotten an envelope of pictures and the nightmare that had been. Looking at it, it was her and Angela and Zach outside the gates of Disney world. She was wearing short jean shorts and a St. Agnes hockey t-shirt, the sleeves torn off and the bottom hem cut. He smiled at how happy she looked, in her Mickey Mouse ears. The next picture was a close up of the ears, instead of her name scrolled across them they said, "Big Man I love you" on them. On the back she'd written, "the happiest place on earth my butt…my feet hurt and I missed you." Along with the date.

Picking up the next picture it was of her center ice at the Wachovia Center. Not only was Temperance there, in a Flyers jersey that went past her knees, she was standing in front of the entire team. Turning the photo over he saw that it was autographed by everyone on the ice. The next picture was her seated in the stands, an empty seat next to her where she'd taped his military photo. She written on the back, "I don't know how good our seats are, but I can see both nets and the jumbo-tron." The date was written on this one too.

The next photo, she was in a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey, her back to the camera and on the jersey it said his name and had the number 51 on it, his old football number. She was standing next to Tatum and Grayson looking out towards the field. The next picture was her in front of two seats, his picture and a full cup of beer in one seat, her in the other. "Miss you telling me what's going on" she'd written on the back. There was another picture of her down on the grass, Ben Roethlisberger was posed next to her and then another shot of him throwing the football to her, perched on Tatum and Grayson's shoulders. Big Ben had autographed the one with him and her in it and she'd written on the back, "I feel like a dwarf next to him!"

Smiling at how she must have felt next to him, he moved to the next picture, this one was of her and Angela, in the dugout at Citizens Bank Park. The Philly Phanatic was standing between them and both of them were laughing hysterically. Tempe was wearing a Chase Utley jersey and Angela had an Albert Pujols jersey on. The next picture was Tempe standing at home plate and the starting lineup for the most recent game were fanned out behind her. This picture was autographed as well. She also had sent a picture of her in the stands, Angela on one side, then an empty seat and then her. His picture and a hot dog were in the empty seat. "Had so much fun here, they are all real nice guys!" she'd written.

Seeley was amazed, she'd gone to every sporting venue that he dearly loved and gotten her picture taken with some of his hero's just to show how much she loved him. That had to mean the letter wasn't a good bye letter, right?

He continued to look at the pictures, there were some of her and Angela trying to surf, although she was wearing a bikini top and board shorts and a t-shirt he was instantly aroused at the sight of her, wet from the surf, the t-shirt clinging to her every curve. This must have been taken in Hawaii. There was no way they could get waves like that on the east coast. There was another one of her and Zach and Angela, they were hula dancing on the beach, this time, no t-shirt and just the bikini top and the grass skirt. She and Angela both looked like they'd spent some time on their private beach and he prayed that Zach was elsewhere while they did.

There were some shots of them at various other events, a couple in Zams, all of them she was wearing something of his, or something from a team that he liked. One of the last ones, she was in a bar called Pucks. He'd heard of it, mostly frequented by Flyers fans it was filled with memorabilia, she was sitting at the bar in a St. Agnes hockey jersey, number 51 of course, two beers in front of her. One of which was almost empty. The picture was of her toasting the full glass. She'd written on the back, "Happy Birthday Big Man" and the date. It was on his birthday that she'd gone there. Hoping not alone, it was somehow one of the worst pictures for him. She was alone, in a bar on his birthday.

Seeley flipped through the rest of the pictures and was amused by most of them. He couldn't quite shake the feeling that some of them were forced though. Not that he didn't appreciate the gesture, he loved seeing her in all of those places, the travel alone would be enough to explain her lack of letters, plus he knew she was doubling up on her class schedule to graduate early. He was still confused as to the meaning of her letter though. Putting the pictures back into the envelope, he turned on the lamp next to his cot and started to read through Angela's letter to him.


	29. Chapter 87B

CHAPTER 87B

Dear BMOC,

Boy that sounds weird considering it's been a long time since you were on a campus right? I'm sure if you've gotten this letter, you've also gotten Tempe's. She asked me to mail it on my way to school, and because I'm incredibly nosy and she's been so very out of her normal senses lately I read it. Right, wrong or otherwise I did. I'm sure you were just as confused reading it as she was writing it. She's been holed up in her room most nights, when she sleeps it's for very short periods, she's lost some weight but I'm pretty adamant about her eating, so she could be a lot worse. She's gone from the house from 6 in the morning until 10 or so at night with school. I can't be there with her, but Zach watches her everyday and gives me reports. He tried to be there for her, but she just pushes him away. Regardless of what it says in her letter to you, he's tried to talk to her and she's resisting. (I'm not telling you this to upset you or hurt you or anything, just telling you the real facts)

Tempe is trying hard to reconcile her life right now. She does love you. I've seen it. I see it every time I look at her. I don't think that she realized just how hard this was going to be for everyone, you've seen each other just the two times since you were stationed overseas and that's hard for both of you. I think that she has somehow wrapped it into her brain that when you come back that's when 'real life' can begin. The trouble with that is, she's been living her 'real life' since you left. She has a calendar that she marks off every day until the rest of your deployment is up. So, I know that she is missing you.

I think that she is worried what is going to happen when you come home. She doesn't think that she will be enough for you. You've gone on and are doing something important, she is still in school. I'm no psychologist, but I think that she's thinking that you won't be willing to wait for her to graduate, since you didn't wait the first time. (That's not a slam to you-just my opinion)

I've enclosed some photos' of my own for you. I know that she sent you the ones we took while we were traveling this summer, but I also took some. Most of which she has no idea about. I hope you see the difference and realize that she still loves you whether she knows it or not. We all miss you Big Guy and we all still need you to know how much you mean to all of us. I've enclosed a prepaid phone card in here; I hope you can use it.

We can't wait to see you when you come home. We all still keep in contact; at least I do with Wendell and Fischer. Fischer actually plays hockey in Canada now, Wendell went to California for school. Alana goes to Northwestern too, but she and Tempe don't see much of each other, which is more because of scheduling conflicts than anything. I heard from Hank a couple of weeks ago, he said Jared was arrested for boosting cars again. I'm sorry Seeley, I know that you don't want to hear that, but Hank is really struggling with him. Dad is doing real well, he's cut back on the touring and stays here with us when he's in the States, and he shares between Texas and Penn too. He said he was probably going to sell the Penn house when I go to DC. Tatum transferred to a service here; Grayson is in Penn. Tempe uses the service a lot in the winter and Tatum takes good care of her. He's married now, pretty girl named Savannah.

I've been offered an internship at the Jeffersonian Institute; I leave at the end of the semester when I graduate. I'll be doing some really cutting edge stuff there, it's a great opportunity and I'll still be able to do my art.

Take care of yourself Seeley; we want you to come home in one piece. Give us a call if you can kid and be safe.

Love,

Your Angel

Seeley re-read the letter and released a pent up breath when it was done. He knew that she was confused and upset, he could read that in her letter itself, hearing from Angela and getting her impression made Tempe's letter a little easier to understand. He pulled the photos from the envelope and the phone card fell on the dirt floor. Leaning over the cot, he picked it up and sat it on his chest while he looked through the pictures. The camp was moving around behind him, getting ready for the evening patrols, which meant that it would soon be morning in Illinois.

The first picture was like a punch in the gut. She was sitting on the terrace of their condo in Hawaii. Long white skirt, white cable knit sweater, too big for her. She had her feet up on the railing and was looking at the sunset, twirling the glass pendent in her hand. She looked so forlorn and alone. He could tell, even from the photo, she wasn't seeing the glorious burst of color dancing on the water. She was looking at something thousands of miles away. He took that picture and brought it to his forehead and sighed.

The next one, she was asleep in his bed at Pop's house, her hand cupped under her chin, Booth in her arms. She was wearing his favorite hoody and a pair of old St. Agnes sweatpants, miles too big for her. He saw not only his ring, but the glass pendent as well. Angela had written on the back, 'Christmas Eve when we came to visit'. Apparently the long cross country flight had tired them both out and Hank let them crash there before they headed to Texas the next day.

Starting to understand what Angela was trying to show him, he looked at the next photo; Tempe was sitting with her back against a wall, a letter in her hand. She was holding Booth and had leaned her head down on her knees; he could see the tears in her eyes as she leaned against her stuffed dog. He recognized the building; it was the back of the gym at St. Agnes. Wondering why she would be there, he noticed the picture was numbered, 1-2. He looked for one in the pile that said, 2-2. She was huddled in the bleachers of the football field. The clouds building up behind her were dark and ominous. She was wearing Andy's jacket and staring at the field. "She used to come here a lot when you first left, I guess it makes her feel closer to you" Angela had written on the back.

Another shot of her on the carousel, alone, holding on to the pole, her head leaned on it. He knew that these shots were all of times when she thought she was alone, and these places were where she missed him the most.

The last picture that he looked at, she was standing on the curb, surrounded by hundreds of people, there were soldiers marching beyond her, it looked to be a parade of some sort. She was wearing the old fatigue jacket he'd sent her when he was sent to Iraq from Germany. He technically wasn't supposed to, but he'd wanted her to have it. He could see the tears flowing down her face, forever stilled in the black and white picture. The small American flag in her hand held limply as once again, she stared through what was in front of her. 'She volunteers at the VA hospital sometimes, says she needs to be by them' was all she wrote on the back.

Booth stuffed the pictures back into the envelope and put both of them into his lockbox under the cot. Buckling up his flak jacket and grabbing his gun and phone card, he went over to the media tent to see if he could score a phone. He didn't care what time it was over there. He was coming home in three days and he be damned if he was going to lose her now. No matter what she thought or Ange thought, he loved her, he'd always loved her and he was going to tell her now.

He joined a long queue of soldiers, waiting to use one of the five available satellite phones. They were limited to 15 minutes and it was always first come first serve. He rarely used them, but tonight, he'd pull rank or something if he had to. He was actually in line for less than 10 minutes when Corporal Parker turned around and saw him standing there, "Hey, Sarge, here you can use my time" he tossed him the phone that he'd just been handed and sauntered to the back of the line, "That's okay Corporal Parker, I can wait." He said, not wanting to get into a contest with the younger soldier, "No really, you need to talk to your girl, I just want to talk to mine, take it."He walked on and stood at the end of the line. Seeley looked at the phone in his hand and then walked over to where there were tables set up in the corner of the tent. He took the prepaid card out and followed the instructions, praying that she hadn't changed her phone number.

After three rings the phone went to voicemail, it started out with a familiar song, one he'd dedicated to hear oh so long ago… "_The smile on your face lets me know that you need me  
there's a truth in your eye saying you'll never leave me the touch of your hand says you'll catch me whenever I fall. You say it best when you say nothing at all…hi! You've reached Tempe and I'm too busy with school or Angela or Seeley to answer, so leave me a message..._

Seeley held the phone close to his ear, her voice was enough to make his heart melt and his throat tighten, "Tempe Baby, it's me Seeley. Little one, I got your letter and I'm sorry, so sorry that you are scared and unsure, baby, I love you. I never stopped loving you, I'm coming home Tempe, I'll be home by the end of the week baby, please just wait until I get home. Please Tempe, it's going to be okay, I'm coming home Bone Lady, just like I promised, you'll never be scared or unsure again…Tempe I love you." He didn't know how much time would be available on her voicemail so he stopped talking, just listened to the air and then he pushed the end button and held the phone for just a second. He had just under 7 minutes left on the card and with the phone itself. It took so long to connect internationally sometimes that most of the time was used waiting for the satellites to align and connect to a phone. He dialed Angela's number and it went straight to voicemail, of course it would, it wasn't even turned on that early in the morning. "Hey this is Angel—leave me your wish and I'll make it come true" she said, her voice low and sexy. He snorted, she was such a dork sometimes, "Angel, it's Seeley, I got your letter and I wanted to tell you that I'm…" the phone line went dead and when he looked at it, the timer read zero. Cursing under his breath, he handed it off to the Corporal that would re-set it and give it to the next guy to use.

He walked back down to the end of the line and up to Parker, "Thanks man, I appreciate it. Really." He said.

"No problem Sarge, anytime" the younger guy winked and smiled before turning back to face the front of the line.

Seeley continued out and went over to the barracks again. His head was spinning, but he knew, he just knew that when she got the message she would be okay. She had to be. Mentally preparing for the long night ahead, he was on patrol in an hour, he decided to grab some grub and then get ready to head out. All he could do now was count the hours until he was in that big bird heading home. His thoughts drifted to her, as always and hoped that when she woke up she'd check her phone.

~~~that morning~~~

"Angela!" Tempe came downstairs into the kitchen where Angela was sitting on a stool, wet hair in a towel, bagel in one hand, paper in the other. "What Temper?" she asked, looking up sharply.

"Have you seen my phone?"…


	30. Chapter 87C

Chapter 87C

"Where was the last time you saw it?"

"If I knew where the last time I saw it was, I wouldn't have asked you if you had seen it Ange" she responded sarcastically.

"Don't get snippy with me Temper" she said putting her bagel down, "I didn't do anything and no, I haven't seen your phone." She put the paper down and began to move out of the kitchen, picking her bagel back up. 'Take mine and call it that should help."

"It wouldn't, it's on silent because I was in the library yesterday and I'm not getting snippy with you, I asked you a simple question and you had to go all sarcastic on me, I have a test in an hour and I can't find my phone, I'm tired and I don't need any crap from you." She said, pouring herself a glass of juice and grabbing an orange.

"You know what Temperance," Angela said turning around abruptly in their shared kitchen, "I've had just about enough of you and your whining, 'poor me my boyfriend isn't here and life is too hard' attitude. You act like you are the only one whose boyfriend has ever been somewhere else. There are millions of people whose loved ones are somewhere else and they deal, they manage. You're tired. You know why? Because you stay up all night torturing yourself with the 'what ifs', instead of actually accepting that he loves you and he's proven it time and time again, he writes you all the time, yet, you barely acknowledge him for 6 months. You mope around here all the time, you never go anywhere, you rarely sleep, you hardly eat, and all you do is school and home where you are pining away."She stopped and took a step closer, "Not only that but even if Seeley was here, you still wouldn't spend every second of every day with him, he would either be in school or working himself, he would have his own friends, especially as soon as he found a hockey rink, he would encourage you to go out with your friends too. Plus, you would still have double classes at school."

"You don't know what it's like Angela, no matter how much you may think you do. It's hard, I hate it, I don't even know why I wait anymore, he's going to be gone for 6 more months, it's been 6 years, what am I waiting for?" she yelled back.

"You don't have the market cornered on angst and insecurity Temperance Brennan no matter what you may think. What are you waiting for? What the hell does that mean? You are waiting for the best thing to ever happen to you…so he left, he pursued his dreams, how is that any different than what you are doing? He's COMING BACK! You just have to get past the 'poor little ole me' you've wrapped yourself in. Go out with your friends, go have a life. Do you have any idea what he is doing over there? Do you think that he just sits on his bunk all day long pining over you? Does he not go out on patrol or maneuvers because he misses his girlfriend? Do you think he's the only one over there that has someone back here? No, he does what he's told, he does it right and he probably thinks of you every second of every day, but he still does what he needs to do to get through each day. Maybe you should try it, you're not a 16 year old kid anymore, you're almost 24 years old and you are acting like you are still in high school." Angela wasn't screaming at her, but she was close. She'd had enough. She had no way of knowing if her letter had even reached him yet, but she was done letting this go on. "I'm going to get ready for school myself, and then I'm going out. I don't know when I'll be home."

She stomped out of the kitchen and all Tempe could do was watch. Rolling her eyes and fuming, she left through the opposite entrance and headed to her car. She has no clue what this feels like she was thinking to herself, she's never been abandoned. She continued to rant and rave inside her thoughts all the way to school and by the time she got there she was even madder than when they were arguing. Storming through the doors to her first class she almost bowled over Zach who was on his way out, "Tempe-whoa, sorry, excuse me" he said trying to maintain his balance.

"Sorry Zach" she said reaching out to him, "I was pre-occupied, Ange and I had a fight" she sat in the first available seat in the slowly filling classroom, "What did you fight about?" he asked.

"She said I was acting ridiculous over Seeley basically. She just doesn't understand how hard it is, how much it hurts. He left me. She doesn't get that."

Zach cocked his eyebrow and said, "He didn't leave you Tempe. He went to work. He started his life, you knew that he was going to be gone for some time, but he's always promised to come back. I'm not one of his best friends by any stretch of the imagination, but Seeley is a good guy. I think you've been acting like a spoiled brat, to be honest. All of us do." He trailed off. Sure that she was going to go into one of her crying jags. Instead, she just stared at him. She couldn't possibly have been behaving like that, she was stronger than that, and she knew it. "So, you all think that I've been acting unreasonable and childish?" she asked him.

"Well yeah, I mean, at first, it made sense, you were in high school, he leaves, it's a hard time and you're still pretty young, but then, it's like you never really accepted it. So, instead of growing up and accepting that this _is_ real life, you keep thinking that your life is on hold and won't start until he gets here. That's just dumb. You should know that he's true to his word, accept that and live." He stood up and put his hand on her head, "Listen, the test is going to start, how about lunch afterwards?"

"I can't I have to go to the library afterwards, I think I left my phone there." She told him morosely.

"The library is closed today Temp, they're re-routing some electrical wires, you'll have to check it tomorrow, so lunch?"

"Closed? They can't be closed, I need to find my phone!" she put her hand over her eyes and sank back into the chair.

"What's the rush? Ange has a phone and its one day"

She didn't even really know why it was so important, it's not like she needed it that much, she just didn't like to leave things behind. "It's not, I just want it."

"So lunch?" he smiled crookedly at his old friend.

"Yeah, I'll meet you outside the auditorium" she told him, facing forward to see that the classroom was almost completely full now. Seeing Alana a few rows down, she moved to sit next to her, "Hi stranger" she greeted her. Alana jumped slightly and then said, "Hi Tempe, how have you been?" she leaned over to hug her and then sat back, "I've been okay, listen, can I ask you a question? Please be totally honest okay?"

"I guess so" Alana said.

"Have I been overly dramatic and acting ridiculous for the last couple of years?"

Alana looked at her friend for a long couple of seconds, and then taking a deep breath she said, "You have been acting more like he died, you used to be so excited when he'd write to you, but now, it just makes you cry and get all mopey, you used to want to write to him all the time and now you hardly ever do. No one can say anything without you getting all mad or indignant and to be totally honest, it's hard to be around you. You used to want to do stuff with us, and now, we don't ask because you always say no."

Tempe was stunned. She didn't know that was how they all felt. She thought they were all being supportive of how she was feeling. "You all feel like that?" she said quietly.

"Tempe, don't be mad, you asked me to tell you honestly. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything." She whispered, the professor had come down in front of the rows of students, and began to tell them that there would be questions shown on the projector, they were to answer them on the worksheets being passed down the rows. They had 30 minutes per page and then the page would be changed to the next set of questions.

"I'm not mad Alana, I just didn't realize I was behaving like that, I thought I was doing a good job holding it all in, and come to find out that the crazy I thought I was hiding was actually on the outside all along." She said quietly as she passed the papers down.

"You aren't crazy Tempe, you're just unsure, it's okay, let's talk about it afterwards okay?"

She agreed and they got to work on the test. Zach came back in at one point and was discussing something with the professor, seeing him down there, she caught his eye and he winked before leaving to go to another class. He had taken this same test when he was a sophomore, and he student taught the next class so wanted to make sure that the professor would have the projector left up for him.

~earlier that morning~

Angela had gotten dressed and hustled over to her own school for class. She was all over the place emotionally and couldn't have told anyone what they talked about in her first two classes. During the break, she pulled her phone out to call Tempe and apologize, when she remembered she didn't know where her phone was. Looking at the display, she saw she had a missed call, the number was unknown. Seeing that they left a message, she put the phone back in her purse. She'd check the message later, if she didn't have their number programmed into her phone, it wasn't that important as far as she was concerned.

3 hours later the test was over and Tempe and Alana stood and stretched along with all the other students in the class. Handing their papers over, they both blinked owlishly in the bright sunlight. Alana pulled her phone out and turned it on, there was a text message, "Hey Alana, see if Tempe will join us for pizza and beer tonight, I'll be done around 5, she doesn't have her phone right now, or I'd ask her-Zman"

"Tempe, do you want to join me and Zack for pizza and beer tonight?" she asked her friend. Tempe thought it over and said, "Yes, I'd like that, can I use your phone to call Angela?"

"Sure" Alana handed her the phone and waited while she called her.

"Hi Alana! What's up kid? Is Tempe okay?" Angela's voice came on the line.

"Hey Ange, it's me, listen, Alana and Zach invited me for pizza and beer tonight after class, so I'm going to go out with them, I'll call the service if I need a ride okay? And…I'm sorry about this morning, I said some things and I'm sorry."

"It's okay Temper, we'll talk about it later, have fun and if I don't see you when I get home, I'll see you in the morning, I love you sister" she said as she hung up. Tempe handed the phone back to Alana and said, "Okay, I'm in for pizza; I'll meet you at the common area around 5:30?"

"Great, I'll let Zach know" She hugged her and they went off to their separate classes. Tempe had a lecture to attend and then she was done for the rest of the afternoon, she had about an hour until it started, so she went to see if there was anyone at all in the library that would let her look around. Seeing the closed for repairs sign on the darkened windows, she kicked a rock and decided instead to go check her car again. She'd looked quickly this morning, but hadn't seen it. When she got to the bug, she leaned in and said quietly, "Hi Booth" to her dog, he was always on the back seat, she took him everywhere. She reached into the back and picked him up, "do you think I've been an idiot?" she asked him. When he didn't answer she hugged him and kissed his scuffed up nose, "That's why I like you, you never tell me bad stuff" she said as she put him back down. Kneeling down, she looked under the front seat and the rear seat, between the console and in the glove compartment. She started to pull the seat up, when she saw the glint of the silver backing on the phone. "Yes!" She said as she reached underneath the passenger seat to grab it.

Flipping it over, she saw that it had a very low battery. She scrolled through the log and saw one missed call and one voicemail. She pushed the voicemail button and it started to dial and then the phone went dead in her hand. Sighing and looking at the sky in frustration, she put the dead phone in her purse and decided she needed chocolate. Heading to the student union building and the indoor café, she stopped inside to get a small chocolate shake and then she trudged off to her lecture.


	31. Chapter 88A

**This was going to be the end…but I can't quite let it go just yet, so going to go a little bit further. So, Constant Reader keep the comments coming, good, bad or otherwise…**

Chapter 88A

Seeley and the rest of the guys in his patrol went out an hour or so after sundown. They would do the standard perimeter search and then expand outwards to the low lying shrubbery and rocks and do hundred yard checks for the next few hours. Eventually come morning, they would be headed back to the camp, their position hopefully secure. He didn't mind this part, it gave him time to think, but not dwell and it also made him feel like he had more to protect than just himself. Pairing up as usual with Corporal Parker, the two of them set off and through complicated hand signals and night vision glasses they were able to continue to communicate without speaking. They crisscrossed across the desert floor, Seeley constantly in awe by the patterns the moonlight painted on the shifting sand. As soon as the stars were up and in full view, he looked for her constellation, the same way he did every single night and had since he'd been here. And as per usual, there was the tightening of his groin as he thought of what had happened all those nights ago under the stars.

Shaking his head and desperately wishing for a cold shower, he could hardly believe that this time the day after tomorrow, he'd be on a plane, heading home. Glancing over when he realized that Parker had stopped moving, he scanned the terrain with his field glasses. The young soldier had crouched down and was pulling his rifle up to arms, his scope attached and from his position slightly behind him; Seeley could see what it was he was looking at. There were three individuals sitting partially obscured behind a large rock outcropping. If he'd been staring at the sky any longer, he would have walked right past them. "Geez Seeley, try and live a couple more days okay man?" he said quietly to himself.

Angling over to where he could position himself closer to Parker without giving away the other mans' position, he texted coordinates to another pair of soldiers who had gone slightly further out than he and Parker had. Receiving their response that they were doubling back, he texted to Parker to remain steady until they saw what was going on. The three men seemed to just be waiting for something, they weren't in any defensive or offensive position, one was smoking, the other two had their rifles strung casually around their shoulders.

Slipping into stealth mode, Seeley started to see what wasn't there instead of what was there and he saw a glint of metal in the moonlight coming up from behind the rocky outcrop and knew that his guys were going to surprise them. At the exact moment that the three men realized they were there, they pulled their guns around and opened fire on the US Soldiers. Hitting the deck, the two soldiers seemed to be okay. Seeley stood to take a shot and suddenly was hit hard in the side. Hitting the ground, he saw that it was Parker that had hit him. "There's a fourth one Sarge, end of the rocks to the left, the other three were decoys, and he made me, which is why I've been sitting there."

Rolling over to his back and then again to his stomach, Seeley texted the other two, "Status?"

"No direct hit-Need a line of sight"

"4th man 80 degrees to left, do not engage"

"10-4"

"Parker, I want you to do something for me, okay?" Seeley said quietly.

"Okay Sarge"

"When I give you the signal, lay down cover fire towards the rocks, I'll take out number 4 and that'll buy the guys some time to get out and under cover themselves, okay?"

"10-4"

Seeley texted the other two and told them to go on rapid gun fire. Praying that this would work, Seeley nodded to Parker who began to shoot rapidly at the rocks, in doing so the guy on the left popped his head up and Seeley got off the one shot he needed. He and Parker lay quietly for a few more minutes until he saw his screen flash, "A-OK Sarge-Arch Angels on the way" and no sooner had he read it then he heard the low hum of the Blackhawk heading their way. Lighting up the rocky outcropping, the three men, one of which who'd been hit, threw down their guns allowing the four of them to secure them, Seeley told the helicopter pilot that they'd wait for the Hum-V to show and get them, and he acknowledged it and flew away. The four American soldiers stood by their prisoners and waited for the Calvary to arrive. All Seeley could think about was how it was almost over, just that quick, all because he'd been looking at the damn stars. He couldn't believe that he'd put Parker's life at risk for that kind of stupidity. For the first time he was glad he was going home for another reason. He couldn't bare it if he let someone get hurt because his mind was on her.

The truck arrived and they took the men back to camp, he went straight to the Lt's office to give his report and to let him know that it was Parker that made the right decisions. Lt. Dan was pleased with his report and told him to send Parker in to see him when he was done securing the prisoners. Booth went back to his tent and lay on his cot, his hand over his face, it would be dawn in a couple of hours and he wasn't ready to go back out just yet. There would be another patrol heading that way and they would be able to take care of it. Right now all he wanted to do was make time go by. Hearing Parker come in, he told him to go see the Lt. There was a scared expression on his face but he did what his sergeant told him to do.

Coming back in to the tent a short while later, he went over to the cot where Seeley was now sitting, hands between his knees, sitting up as he faced the wall of the tent. "Sarge?" Parker said hesitantly, "Are you okay?"

"I almost got you killed Teddy. Because I was daydreaming of my girlfriend. I'm sorry man; I don't know what else to say."

"But Sarge, you didn't. It's okay, I'm here and so are you, it's in the past, we can't change the past Sarge, all you can do is look forward, right?" Seeley looked into his face, so young and earnest. "I guess you're right Corporal Parker, thanks for pushing my big $$ out of the way too"

"No problem Sarge, I've got your back. Speaking of which, I'm going home too Sarge, with you. Lt. Dan just told me that I was to report to your training class at Fort McNair. So, thanks Sarge."

"I didn't do anything, just told him what you did, everything he's giving you is because you earned it" Seeley told him, standing up to shake his hand. "Well, whatever the reason, guess I'll get my stuff sorted out, only one more day huh Sarge?" he smiled and his eyes were bright with happiness.

"Yes, just one more day Corporal" he told him, sitting back down and picking up his box of letters. Parker clapped him on the shoulder and then headed over to the mess tent to see if he could scare up something to eat. Almost getting shot to death tended to make you hungry.

Tempe got out of her class and felt like her head was going to explode. She had taken so many notes on so many different things, she wondered at some point if she was even in the same classroom. Heading over to the common area, she had 45 minutes to spare and pulled her phone out again, starting to open it, she remembered that the battery was dead. Wondering if she had a charger in her car, she got sidetracked by a group of kids playing guitars in a semi-circle on the grass. Standing behind some other kids, she worked her way to the front so she could see. They seemed to be playing random snippets of various folk and classic rock songs. One of the guys she recognized from a band that had played at a club she and Angela had gone to when they first moved here. They'd ended up talking to him most of the night after his set was done. He had definitely been enamored of Angela, but she wasn't going to go out with a musician. He looked up from his guitar and caught her eye. Smiling, he nudged the guy next to him and he looked up at her too, they both grinned and then started playing one of Billy's songs. She recognized it and started to laugh. She clapped loudly when they were done and said, "Thank you gentlemen, that was great, I'll tell Billy you like his work" they smiled and thanked her as she put a couple of bucks in the open guitar case before heading on her way. "Who was that?" a girl asked her friend, he looked after the trim, auburn haired sophomore that was walking away and said, "That's Billy Gibbons daughter."

"Who?" she asked him, raising her eyebrow.

"ZZ Top?" he said back, "Oh, those old guys with beards?"

"Yeah" he sighed, "The old guys with beards" the two of them walked away, he shaking his head over how someone could not know who he was and she wondering why it mattered.

By the time Tempe got to the commons area it was almost 5:30, she saw Zach standing on the brick wall and Alana was sitting at his feet. Wondering if they were a couple she headed over and waved. The three of them headed over to an off campus pizza place that made everything from scratch and had cheap beer on tap. There was a live band playing, along with a dart tournament, and the place was hopping. They got a table and ordered a pitcher and began to hang out like they used to. The din was incredible and no one heard Alana's phone ringing.

"Pick up, pick up pick up" Angela was chanting, eventually the annoying ring tone music stopped and she got Alana's voicemail, "Alana have Tempe call me as soon as you get this, if you are still with her, I got a message from Seeley! I could barely understand it, but I wanted her to know he called, I bet she's got one too if we can find the damn phone! Please, tell her Alana, thanks!" She called Zach's phone and it went straight to voicemail. He'd forgotten to turn it back on after his class. She repeated her message to him and then hung up. She listened to her voicemail again and heard, "Angel, it's Seeley, I got your letter and I wanted to tell you that I'm…"

"You're what Seeley Booth what?" She screamed into the phone. "I hate technology, I really do sometimes" She said to herself when it became apparent that her phone wasn't going to answer her. She went back to her drink and tried to pay attention to the performance artist on stage, meanwhile her mind was elsewhere.

Tempe and Alana had been convinced to go up and sing with the band after their third pitcher of beer, and surprisingly had done a pretty good job. However, driving home for any of them was strictly out of the question, so around midnight Tempe called the service and asked for a driver. Sitting out on the curb they had their arms around each other and all had the giggles. Tempe looked up and saw the dolphin constellation and made a wish and then lay back on the sidewalk and started to air guitar. A black SUV pulled up to the curb and Tatum got out. He saw that Zach was the least drunk of the three of them so he had him help him get Alana into the truck and then seat himself. Tatum went over to where Tempe was still laying, eyes closed rocking out with her air guitar, silently screaming lyrics to a song only she knew the words too. Tatum kneeled over her and said quietly, "Tempe-you ready to go home sweetheart?"

Her eyes flew open and she laughed and put her arms around his broad shoulders. Staring into his bright green eyes she licked her bottom lip and said quietly, "With you? Anytime."

Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, he reached behind her back and in one motion lifted her up off the sidewalk, "Hey there mister, the clasp is in the front, not gonna find nothing back there, nope nope" she told him as he half walked her, half carried her to the waiting truck. "I'm not looking for anything Temperance, and you my little friend, are drunk."

"No I'm not, I'm just getting started baby, you should see me when I'm all revved up. I'm an amimnal, an anminal…" she paused, "Well, I'm good that's all I'm gonna say" she twisted her lips into what she thought was a seductive pout. Instead, it made him shake with silent laughter, "I'll remember that Tempe" he said as he buckled her into the seat.

Taking Zach and Alana back to the dorms, he gave them a card and told them both to call the number on it in the morning and someone from the service would come and get them in and take them to their cars at in the morning. He went back to the truck where Tempe was sitting, her head back on the seat rest; driving to her house she was silent but awake. When they got there, he came around and opened her door. Unbuckling her seat she turned in the seat, her legs sitting on the step board outside the door. When he leaned in to help her out, she grabbed his belt loops and pulled him close to her, "Tatum-you're really cute, has anyone ever told you that?" She asked leaning in closer to him and looking up through her lashes, "Yes, Savannah tells me that every day Temperance, don't do this." He pulled back and put his hands on her shoulders, "Six years ago I would have let you follow through with this, but now, you're drunk, have a boyfriend and I'm married, so knock it off" his voice was stern as he took her hand and walked her to the front door. She opened the door and then turned to him, "I guess I just don't have what it takes do I?" she said sadly.

"You do and if this was a different place, a different circumstance and a different time, you'd know that, but it isn't. Go inside, go to bed, and I'll see you tomorrow to take you to your car. Okay?" he leaned in and kissed her on the forehead and then shut the door. She leaned against it after locking it and said softly, "but it's not a different anything." Before she went to her room and crawled into bed. Angela found her there three hours later, shoes still on and sleeping on top of the covers. Reeking of beer, she pulled a blanket over her and took her shoes off. She wrote a note and stuck it on her mirror. "Listen to my voicemail message before you go to school-Love Angel"

The next morning, Tempe woke up looking for the aspirin and a glass of water. She went into her bathroom and took a quick shower. Coming out, she saw the message on her mirror and went to find Angela. She was also in her shower, so she took her phone off the charger and reminded herself to put hers on the charger before she left. Just as she was about to listen to the voicemail, a call came in. It was Billy. The two of them chatted for awhile and then she took the phone into Angela and got ready. Seeing that she had about 20 minutes to get to class, she called the service and prayed they would get there soon. 15 minutes later a car pulled up and she got in, the driver Chris, was not a talkative guy so she listened to the talk radio in silence, pulling into the parking lot, she was only 15 minutes late for class so she hurried in and tried to take a seat in the back as quietly as she could. The professor didn't even blink, just kept on with the lecture.

Seeley woke up and prepared for the last night of patrol. As he was cleaning his gun, Lt. Dan came over and told him that he and Parker would be tearing down one of the tents and moving equipment for the evening. He didn't want to risk a repeat of the previous evening and wanted them to both be close to the camp. Seeley put his rifle away by his bunk and pulled off his flak jacket. He and Parker and another couple of guys started taking down the large tent and were soon sweaty and covered in sand. Even though it was night, it was still hot and the sand still collected in all the wrong places. Soon, as most men will do, they started trading insults and then started in on teasing each other about their wives and girlfriends and mothers. Seeley took his t-shirt off and tied it around his head. "Whew…aren't you pretty" Sanders said laughing. Seeley turned and posed in an exaggerated body builder pose. "You're just jealous" he said and went back to work. Soon, all of them were shirtless and were moving the crates and boxes into another tent. Working through the night, Seeley was glad that he wasn't out on patrol, but was overcome with a sense of sadness that he was leaving these guys behind. He didn't realize how close they had all become until just now. He knew their wives and girlfriends from their descriptions, the names of their kids and pets and where they were from and he knew that he would miss them all.

Soon the work was done and the tent was down and secure, heading to the mess tent, they got breakfast and then headed back to their bunks. He and Parker however, filled out the necessary paperwork and went to clean up. They were leaving for the 8 hour drive to the airfield that would take them back to Germany and then home. In 20 hours he would be on American soil and he knew what he was going to do the moment he touched down. He only hoped he was in time. Getting into his flak jacket and helmet an hour later, he and Parker were packed and ready to head out. He'd spent some time that previous evening saying goodbye and after shaking the Lt's hand one last time, he and Parker got in the middle rig and the convoy took off.

"This is it Parker, you ready to go home Corporal?" he asked him, looking over at the younger soldier.

"Yes Sarge, I'm past ready."

"You think you can do me a solid I owe you when we land at Fort McNair?" Seeley asked him.

"Sure Sarge, anything."

Seeley told him what he wanted him to do and Parker agreed he'd take care of it. After that brief discussion, the two of them lapsed into silence, both thinking ahead to the next day and what it would bring.

After Tempe got out of class, she grabbed her phone to call Alana and Zach to see if they made it home okay and flipped open the phone. Completely dead she said, "Oh my god, you have to be kidding me" she'd completely forgotten to charge it. Shaking her head in disgust she dropped it back into her purse and headed to the library to see if they were open. She wanted to check out a couple of books and hoped they had their electrical issues worked out.

Angela had gotten off the phone with her dad and headed to school herself before wondering if Tempe had found her phone and had listened to her voicemail. She guessed she'd just have to talk to her about it tonight when she got home.

Four hours later Tempe was done in the library and was heading to her late class when she ran into Alana. Wearing dark sunglasses she laughed and said, "Well, you made it home I see"

Alana pushed the glasses up on her head and made a face, "Barely-I was sick all morning, so just came to my afternoon classes. Oh, hey, by the way, Angela called us last night while we were singing and said that Seeley called her? Did you get a chance to talk to her?"

"Seeley called her?" She said wonderingly, "My Seeley?"

"How many Seeley's have you met in your life Temperance?" She said with exasperation in her voice, "Yes, your Seeley-do you want to call her?"

Temperance took Alana's phone and called Angela's. It went straight to voicemail and she said, "Ange-Alana said Seeley called? I found my phone but my battery is dead and I forgot to charge it last night, what did he say? I'll be home after class, I want to talk to you before you go to the gallery tonight okay?" she hung up and shrugged, "Well, I hope whatever he called her for it wasn't too bad" She wondered if the missed call she'd had was from him. Now, she could kick herself she should have just gone home and plugged in her phone, instead, she went out, got drunk and then made a pass at her friend. Fabulous timing she thought to herself. Thanking Alana for her phone, they headed to class. The whole time all she could think of was why he would call and was he okay?

Seeley and Parker made it to the airbase and were sitting on the runway waiting for the plane to take off. Both of them were exhausted. Seeley had planned to sleep on the flight, since the drive would have been impossible. In addition to being passengers in the convoy, they were the gunners and so had to stay alert. Seeley had stayed awake for days at a time to get the right shot off, so he knew what exhaustion was. This was different, this was exhaustion mixed with an adrenaline high and emotion overload. Looking at his watch for the hundredth time since they'd strapped in, he sighed and looked towards the cargo bay. "Sarge, tell me about your girl" Corporal Parker said.

"Why would I do that Parker?" Seeley growled at him.

"Because, the more you look at your watch the twitchier you get, and I thought this would take your mind off of the time a little, could be wrong though." He said with a smirk.

Seeley thought about it. There was so much about his girl that he could tell him, and so much he wanted to keep to himself. "Tell me about your girl" he told Parker and Parker launched into his girl Claire. They'd been dating since HS, not that it was all that long ago for him, but it seemed like a lifetime. The two of them chatted off and on as the plane rumbled down the airstrip and into the air and then mutually they both turned inwards towards thoughts of what home would really be for the two of them.


	32. Chapter 88B

CHAPTER 88B

Tempe went to class but had no idea what was going on. All she could focus on was that Seeley had called. He'd called Angela. She hoped that he'd called her too, in fact she knew he had, it was too coincidental. She was beating herself up over the whole phone debacle. Knowing that it wouldn't do any good, she kept checking to see if it had perhaps morphed into a Transformer and had re-charged itself. Seeing that sci-fi fantasy hadn't actually happened each time she just zoned out the class more and more.

She was worried; she figured he must have gotten her letter. Seeley was so much more verbal than she was and if he was calling it had to be because he was done. The last two days she'd realized that it wasn't just her that was having this feeling. He had to be feeling the same thing. Tempe heard the rustle of the rest of the students and saw that the class was over, finally she thought. For all the good it did her, she could have left the class altogether and probably would have had the same effect. Grabbing her things, she headed straight to the parking lot and home.

Arriving in Germany, Parker and Booth deplaned from the cargo jet and headed into the hanger. They had about a 20 minute wait to catch the plane that would take them to the states. Both of them grabbed a beer from the cooler that was sitting right inside the door and leaned back to wait. "Man, I forgot what good beer tastes like" Seeley said to Parker.

"Yeah, and this ain't it" Parker said grimacing, but continuing to drink.

"Ah, the young, you just don't appreciate it yet, you will though." Seeley grinned at him.

"I'll never appreciate this, it's gross. I like American beer better" he said smiling, "and American hot dogs and BBQ's and baseball and the Star Spangled Banner and Cheetos and Nascar" he was rambling, but he'd really missed those things and was looking forward to getting home. "I like big blue eyes, short Catholic school skirts, lab coats and diner French fries" Seeley said quietly, finishing his drink and tossing the bottle in the recycling bin.

"Sergeant Booth?" The MP poked his head around the entrance to the hanger.

"Yes?"

"Your jeep is here" he told him.

"Parker-let's go man, we're on the last leg"

The two of them grabbed their duffle bags and headed out on the tarmac to the jeep, it would take them to the transport plane that was going to spend the next 10 hours in the air. They expected to arrive in Washington around noon today. If all went well, she'd be in his arms before the day was over. He was going to call her again when he hit American soil and tell her how he felt; he had to reassure her that he was never going to let her go. Yawning, he settled into his seat and loosened up his belt and boots. Parker sat and pulled a blanket up over himself and went straight to sleep. Seeley leaned back and closed his eyes. Her face hovered behind his eyes and he too soon fell asleep. Thinking back over the last time they'd actually seen each other.

He'd come home for a 4 day furlough shortly after she started college. Rather than stay at the house, she'd reserved them a room at a nearby hotel and they'd spent most of the time in the room. They'd ventured out twice, once to explore the campus and once for a dinner on the last night he was there. His thoughts drifted to when he'd gotten off the plane, they couldn't keep their hands off of each other. It was nice to be able to touch her anytime he wanted. The first night, they'd simply held each other all night. The sun was barely cresting the horizon when he'd opened his eyes and looked down. She was sound asleep, her brown hair fanned out behind her, her head on his shoulder and her arm lying across his chest. She'd hooked her leg over his at sometime during the night and was using his body as her primary pillow. He watched her sleep for a few minutes, trying to soak it all in. He'd wanted this for the longest time and didn't want to worry about leaving her, for now he was in the moment. She stirred slightly and wrinkled her nose a bit and then settled back into sleep. Deciding she could sleep all she wanted when he was gone, he wanted to see those blue eyes; he ran his hand over her back from her hip to shoulder. Relishing the feel of the soft material of her t-shirt against her warm skin, he wrapped a lock of her hair around his finger. She sighed and arched towards him and moved her own hand down his bare chest. Lightly resting her open palm on his flat stomach she smiled and opened her eyes, and stared into his darkening brown gaze.

"Good morning beautiful how was your night?" he asked her softly placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Ummm" she purred, "It was wonderful, how about you?" she had leaned further against him, her body now completely pressed against him. Slowly moving her foot up the inside of his longer leg and gently toying with the light brown hair dusting his lower stomach.

"I like sleeping with you a lot more than I do 30 other guys" he smirked. Grinning mischievously she'd leaned up and pushed the comforter down slightly, allowing her to slide over on top of him. With nothing between them but the tiniest slip of her panties and his boxer shorts, he was instantly hard. She lightly pressed herself against him and he gasped, "I'm sure you like that better with me than with those 30 guys too, huh?" she asked with a grin on her face.

"Well, you are a lot lighter that's for sure" he said, raising his hips slightly and watching her eyes darken as she felt his length against her. She'd leaned down and kissed his mouth, her tongue teasing his bottom lip, then meeting his. Passionate hunger erupted between them and he'd rolled her over and pressed her into the mattress, one hand wrapped in her hair, the other pulling up the hem of her shirt. She'd helped him pull it off and he gazed at her ample breasts, freed from their warm blanket. He watched her nipples harden under his gaze and the cooler air in the room and dipped his head to taste one and then the other. She groaned and pressed his head tighter to her chest, liking her encouragement he licked and swirled his tongue around the tight bud and then began to nip and suckle slightly. Tempe arched her back and moaned, and ran her fingers through his short military cut hair.

Seeley lifted his head and kissed her, his hands now resting on her hips, slowly stroking down the outside of her thighs and back to the top string of her bikini panties. Sensing his urgency and feeling it herself, she slid off of him and shucked her panties as he did the same. As he lay back down, she kissed down his chest to the sensitive skin on his upper thighs. Feeling him tense, she kissed the other leg as well, exhaling over his hypersensitive cock each time. His hands clenched in the sheets and he groaned, "you have got to be kidding me Tempe" he said through clenched teeth.

"Kidding you? Me? Never…" she smiled and took him in deep in her mouth. Gently closing her teeth and biting slightly, she moved exquisitely slow up his erection until only his head was in her mouth; she licked just under the defined ridge and along the slit on the top. His breath exhaled harshly as she again took his full length in her mouth, this time; she kissed back down to the base, lightly rolling and tickling his balls with her hand, she lightly stroked the small strip behind his sack and felt the tension rolling off of him. Taking his penis in her hand, she stroked him softly, each time her hand nudged the head, she would take him in her mouth. Abruptly, he put his hands in her hair and forced her to look at him. "Two can play at that game, Tempe, you know that right?" he panted.

Smiling, she kept her eyes on his while she took him in her mouth again, as far as she could and there was still some to go. Rising up, she climbed up his body and positioned her wet entrance just above him; her body was ready for him. Taking his cock in his hand, he rubbed the head gingerly against her clit, causing her to writhe against him. He put one large hand on her hip, to help hold her steady, kneeling above him; her legs were threatening to give out on her. He reached between her legs to her silky softness. Seeley gently teased her clit, rubbing and stroking it with his rough fingers, before pulling away and gently lowering her onto his hard shaft. He filled her completely and she moaned and then arched her back, slowly he began to raise his hips to meet hers, neither of them was satisfied with the movement, until he grasped her lower back and rolled them both over, still connected. Now, his arms were on either side of her head and he leaned down, kissed her hotly and then began to move his hips hard and fast, and then he pulled almost all the way out when she gasped at the missing fullness he'd provided, when he slid back in and continued to thrust slowly, enjoying the friction that was building between them both.

Both of them were looking into each other's eyes and Seeley leaned down to kiss her, she raked her hands down his back, her nails digging into his flesh as she grabbed his ass and pulled him in deeper. Seeley groaned as her hips bucked in rhythm with his, just as she was about to plunge over the edge, he slowed down and just flexed inside her, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply, rapidly beginning his earlier motion her eyes flew wide open as she said, "yes, yes, now, yes Seeley!"

Unable to hold back, he felt himself explode inside her at the same time her orgasm shook her very core, both of them riding on the ever higher crests until he could no longer hold himself upright and he gently collapsed on her. "Oh god babe, you are incredible" he panted, placing quick, light kisses on her cheek, her earlobe and down her neck. Trying hard to get her breathing under control, she stroked her hand up his arm, "I never imagined anything like that" she whispered, "I love you Seeley" slowly withdrawing from her, and tucking her into his arms as he spooned against her he said, "I love you too Tempe."

Seeley jerked awake, part of him standing very much at attention. He looked around the cabin of the plane, grateful it was dark and everyone appeared to be sleeping. He looked down and thought to himself, "Nice Booth, you act like your 13 years old." He re-arranged his pants to try to alleviate the discomfort, but after 15 minutes of painful chafing he sighed and leaned his head back, saying under his breath, "this is freaking ridiculous, you're a grown man" and unbuckling his seatbelt, he went to the lavatory, needing to take care of some business.

When Tempe got home the first thing she did was plug her phone in, she was hoping that in the next ten minutes or so, she'd be able to listen to the message. She went to the kitchen and made herself a piece of toast, added an orange and some juice, she took her impromptu dinner back to her room to stare at her phone. Watching it like it was going to magically begin to rise and dance in mid air, she almost didn't hear Angela come into her room, "Tempe-finally, here listen to this" she handed her phone to her and Tempe dialed into the voicemail, "Angel, it's Seeley, I got your letter and I wanted to tell you that I'm…" Tempe listened to it twice and then raised her eyes to Angela. "What letter Angela?"

"I sent him a letter when I sent that package you sent to him" she said, wondering how this conversation was going to go. She wasn't going to lie to her, Tempe needed to know the truth and even if she got mad, Angela loved her and would do anything to help her. "What did your letter say Angela?" she asked, her voice level.

"It said that you loved him even if you didn't know it, and that no matter what I knew that you would make the right decision and would be there for him when he got back. I also sent him some pictures" she said, her chin held high, voice defiant.

"Pictures of what?"

"Pictures of you, showing how much you really do care and how much you really do love him, pictures where it was obvious that you missed him so much you were barely holding on and" she paused seeing the look on her friends face, "I'd do it again too"

"Did you read my letter?" she asked quietly.

"I did"

"Angela, that was private"

"Tempe, I love you. I do. But girl, you are making all of this harder than it has to be. You are trying to convince yourself that you don't love him that you aren't good enough for him and that he needs to be the one to end it with you, and you know and I both know that all of that is bullshit. You keep pushing him away and he is going to leave you. Take the chance that you have something very real here and believe in him. Believe in yourself you two are meant to be together. I'm going to get ready to go to the gallery or I'd stay and we could hash this out, I'm sorry if you think I overstepped my bounds, but I did what I felt was right." She turned and started to her own room to change when Tempe's quiet sobs stopped her.

"What if I ruined it?" she asked, picking up her phone and tracing its contours.

"You didn't, I know it Tempe, just be patient"

Angela left and Tempe turned on her phone, tears still slowly coursing down her cheek. She waited for the phone to power up and go through its ridiculous start up routine and then dialed up the voicemail. Her breath left her body all at once when she heard, "Tempe Baby, it's me Seeley. Little one, I got your letter and I'm sorry, so sorry that you are scared and unsure, baby, I love you. I never stopped loving you, I'm coming home Tempe, I'll be home by the end of the week baby, please just wait until I get home. Please Tempe, it's going to be okay, I'm coming home Bone Lady, just like I promised, you'll never be scared or unsure again…Tempe I love you." She listened to it twice more before breaking into heart crushing sobs, burying her head on her arms, she lay on her bed and cried. Angela hearing her in the small condo came in and put her hand on her back as she sat on the bed. "What happened honey, what is it?" she saw the phone in her hand and her breath caught in her throat, "oh god" she thought to herself, "Temper-come on Sweetie, what happened?"

Tempe sobbed, "He c-c-called m-me t-t-too" was all she could say. Taking the phone from her curled fingers, Angela listened to the voicemail, her heart pounding in her chest, hearing what he said; silent tears ran from her eyes too. She closed the phone and lay next to her friend, stroking her hair and her back and said over and over soothingly, "it's okay, cry it out honey, he's coming home, it's okay"

When Tempe had cried herself to sleep, Angela set her alarm and pulled the blanket up to her chin. She put Booth next to her and plugged her phone in, turning on her alarm for the morning, she let herself out of her room, standing in the doorway, looking at her exhausted sister sleeping finally, a deep sleep that she'd missed for months, she whispered, "Make it home safe Big Man, make it home soon" she turned and grabbed her keys and bag and left to go to work.

The next morning, her alarm blaring, Tempe opened her eyes and was a little unsure how she got all covered up. She was still wearing the clothes that she had on at school. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she stumbled to her bathroom. Her eyes were swollen from the tears and she had a pillow crease across her face, still feeling fuzzy, she climbed into the shower and washed away all the sadness from the day before. She got out of the shower and left her hair loose to dry naturally. Padding back into her room, wrapped in a towel, she listened to his voicemail again on speakerphone as she got dressed. "I love you too Big Man" she said to the empty room. Making her bed and opening her curtains she realized that the shorts she was wearing was not going to cut it for the day ahead. Big, black, angry rainclouds filled the sky and she could hear the distant rumbling of thunder.

Cursing and turning back to her dresser, she pulled on a pair of tight jeans, a t-shirt and then her favorite hoody. It was Seeley's of course and it had his number and name on the back, a football and hockey stick design on the front. She wore it all the time so it no longer smelled like him, but it did make her feel like he was wrapped around her. Today she would need it. Grabbing her bag, she went downstairs and pulled her shoes on; she grabbed a yogurt and a juice box and went to the campus to go to the library before her classes. She left a note for Angela on the counter, "thank you Ange-you always know what is best for me, I love you, Temper-

Carefully driving to school, the rain really started in heavily she was listening to the radio when a song came on that almost made her forget how to brake for the truck in front of her, "We got the afternoon you got this room for two one thing I've left to do discover me discovering you one mile to every inch of your skin like porcelain one pair of candy lips and your bubblegum tongue 'cause if you want love we'll make it swimming a deep sea of blankets take all your big plans and break 'em this is bound to be a while your body Is a wonderland your body is a wonder (I'll use my hands) your body Is a wonderland " She swore that she hadn't heard that song since he left. Just thinking of the words and what they had meant when he dedicated it to her made her face flush and her body tingle. The truck ahead of her began to move forward and she shook her head, reaching over to turn the radio off. When she arrived at school she looked frantically for an umbrella and finding none, she hurried to the library and cursed the clouds for the rain.

The plane landed without incident at the military base, Seeley having had relieve himself of pent up pressure, had fallen right to sleep for the remainder of the trip. As it had begun its descent, he tightened his boot laces and his belt, and asked Parker, "So, are we a go?"

"Yeah, my cousin will meet you outside the gates, he'll take you to Dulles, you're booked on a flight to Chicago that leaves in two hours, it's about a 35 minute drive from the fort to Dulles, I'll grab your gear, you hustle as soon as we land okay?"

"How will I know who your cousin is?" he asked, looking down outside as the runway came into view.

"Well, my guess is he'll be the only cop outside the gates with his lights flashing" he said with a grin.

"Your cousin is a cop? In DC?"

"Sorta, he's chief of police in Alexandria, don't worry, he owes me a couple, let's just say he likes German beer better than I do" he winked as the plane began to trundle down the runway. When it had come to a complete stop and they allowed the passengers to disembark, Booth trotted to the hangar and asked if there was someone that could give him a ride to the main gate. An MP volunteered and the two of them took off. Getting out of the jeep at the gate, Booth continued through and saw that Parker had come through for him, there was a big black SUV parked out front, party lights flashing and a bigger, blonder, older version of his friend Teddy sitting in the seat, "you Booth?" the man asked, his accent thick and southern.

"Yes Sir, Seeley Booth" he said heading towards the truck.

"Well get in Boy, let's get you going" he nodded to the passenger side and Seeley climbed in. The two men passed the half hour drive in conversation, which was remarkably quicker when traffic parted like the red sea before them. Jumping out in front of Dulles, Booth turned to Sheriff Parker and said, "What's your brand of beer man?" he laughed when he told him and said he'd make sure that his thirst would be well quenched, touching the brim of his hat, he said, "Not necessary, thank you for bring the boy home" he nodded again and drove away as Booth nodded back. Hurrying inside, he went to the ticket counter and gave them his name and credit card. Getting his boarding pass, he went to the security checkpoint, knowing full well that being a fully geared Army Ranger was going to make passing through security difficult. He wasn't wrong either, after being wanded, scanned and frisked by what felt like half the security staff, he was led to another small room where they had him shuck down to his skivvies and socks, his gun was unloaded and placed in a secured box and he was told he could get it upon his arrival, getting dressed he told them that was fine with him, he just wanted to get on the damn plane. After the extended search, he had less than 45 minutes to board, so he grabbed a sandwich and soda from a restaurant on the concourse and headed to his gate to wait.

Tempe left the library and although the rain had tapered off it hadn't quit altogether, so once again she was wet when she re-entered the school, heading to her first class. She sat in the back like she always did, and soon enough Alana and Zach joined her. This was the only class the three of them shared and they enjoyed the camaraderie it offered. She told them all about the voicemail and they told her how happy they were and that it was a good thing. She was still dazed slightly and was fixated on the voicemail and wanting to listen to it over and over rather than the lecture in her class.

Seeley boarded the plane and began the countdown to when he'd be seeing her. He'd be landing in Chicago in an hour and 15 minutes, it was a 30 minute drive from Chicago to Evanston, so about 2 hours and he'd be there. It would be about 10 o'clock her time when he got there, he loved traveling west, it made the hours go by faster. He flipped through the magazine that was in the pouch in front of him and tapped his fingers on his legs, the stewardess came by and offered him headphones and he gladly took her up on them. Plugging them in, he tuned the armrest to a station he could tolerate, and although most of the music was too new for him to have heard out in the desert boonies he was oddly comforted by the familiar names of artists and their sound. He heard an old favorite and his eyes began to tear up slightly and his chest got a little hitch, "Picture perfect memories, scattered all around the floor reaching for the phone cause, I can't fight it anymore and I wonder if I ever cross your mind for me it happens all the time it's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now and I don't know how I can do without, I just need you now."

He remembered exactly the moment where he'd first heard that song, she was singing it while she cleaned an exhibit in the museum that she so dearly loved. He smiled at their innocent banter that evening and how desperately he'd wanted to be with her all night that night. Leaning back he closed his eyes and willed time to fly as fast as the plane.

Tempe, Alana and Zach left the classroom and headed to the coffee corner in the student union building before their next class, luckily they were able to avoid the weather as the next class was in the same building they were already in. After getting their coffees, she and Alana went to their next class and Zach went to tutor another student, "I'll see you guys after class? Lunch maybe?" he said.

"Sure, sounds good" they chorused as they headed to class. This class was not the one that Tempe could slack in, so she forced her random thoughts of Seeley to the back of her mind and focused on the professor. Two hours later, she was never so glad for class to be over as she was just then.

Seeley landed in Chicago and after waiting what seemed like forever, he got his gun and headed out front to get a cab. Getting one as soon as he came out, he crawled inside and said, "Northwestern University" the man up front looked in his rear view mirror at the young soldier and said, "That's a big fare son, are you sure?"

"Yes sir, and an extra hundred bucks for you if you hurry, I gotta see my girl" was all he said.

The cabbie nodded and took off, soon they were flying between the large metropolitan city towards Evanston and the university, "been a long time?" the cabbie asked him.

"Two years since I saw her, 8 months since I talked to her" he said sadly.

"How long you been stateside?"

Looking at his watch, he said "About 3 hours now, counting the flight from Dulles to Chicago-I just flew in from Germany"

"Is she okay?" the cabbie asked, real concern in his voice.

"I hope so" Seeley said staring at the window, watching the rain fall harder and harder.

The rest of the short trip passed in silence and when the cabbie dropped him off in front of the main hall, Seeley reached in to give him the money and his tip, "No charge son" he said to him.

"Sir?"

"I lost my son in that war Sergeant and if I can help you get your girl, that's payment enough for me." He said his eyes slightly red from his own memories. Seeley stepped back and saluted him. "Thank you sir" he told him, as he headed to the building to try and track her down. He vaguely remembered the layout. Tucking his beret into his pocket he trotted inside to the information area, "Excuse me?" he asked the woman behind the counter, "Yes?" She asked looking up and smiling at the handsome soldier.

"Can you tell me where I might find Temperance Brennan right now? She's a student here and I'm not sure of her class schedule"

"I'm sorry son; I can't give you that information, that's private"

"Ma'am, I'm sure it is, but I just flew all the way from Iraq to see my girl, I've been awake for two straight days and I gotta find her, please, I won't get you in trouble, I just got to see her"

She felt dreadful, she couldn't help him, although she desperately wanted to, "I'm sorry son, I can't tell you where she should be right now, I wish that I could"

Realizing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with here, he sighed in frustration and thanked her anyways and headed outside. Deciding he would just head to the main parking lot and find her car, he wait on the hood if he had to. Walking across the campus in the rain, he put his beret back on and was just coming around a large brick wall when he saw a trio of girls come out of the building up ahead to his right. The one in the middle was wearing his hoody. He stopped and stared. She was right there, right in front of him. He watched as she pulled the hoody up to try and keep her hair from getting any wetter, just then her bag notebook slipped out of her hand and she stopped to pick it up, the two other girls, Alana was one of them, stopped to wait and she waved them on. Picking up her books and papers, she stuffed them in her notebook and started to walk fast to catch up to them. Seeley watched all of this like his feet was glued to the pavement.

Seeing that she'd missed a paper, he snatched it up as he tried to catch up to her; she'd begun to walk faster to catch up to her friends. Her head ducked down to avoid the rain, she never saw who it was that trotted past her until he said, "Excuse me, Miss? You dropped this" he stood in front of her, his hand outstretched. She looked up sharply at the familiar voice, "Seeley?" she said not believing that he was really there.

"Yeah Bone Lady it's me" he said.

Tempe dropped her notebook and launched herself into his arms. Crushing her to his chest he hugged her tight and then supporting her ass with his hand, he kissed her softly and then deepened the kiss until the two of them were completely oblivious to the rain, the spectators and the world itself. Alana turned to see what was keeping her friend, seeing that it was the Big Man, she smiled to herself and said softly, "I guess fairy tales do come true" and she turned and walked away, anxious to meet up with Zach and wondering where life would take them all now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FIN~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope that it ended well for everyone. There will be an epilogue. I've enjoyed the story and I hope you all did too. Thank you for all the kind words, good ideas and constructive criticism. MK


	33. Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Dr. Temperance Brennan Gibbons Booth or Dr. B as she was known at the museum, pulled into her driveway and waited patiently for the garage door to open, she'd gone to dinner with Angela after work and was coming home quite late. Angela's husband Lorne, stayed home with their sons Gunner and Wesley. Lorne was leaving to go to Europe for a couple of months, he was the curator of the Jeffersonian art wing, and Angela was taking time off from her job there to go with him. Tempe knew that they'd be over for the family dinner on Sunday, and they'd say goodbye then too, but tonight, she wanted it to be just her and her sister.

She held her breath as always until she saw the dark blue SUV parked in its customary spot. Smiling in relief, she pulled her own car in. She knew he was home, yet she still took that pause every single time. She entered through the kitchen and was greeted enthusiastically by Justice, their Rottweiler. Shaking his hind end and smiling a big doggy smile she patted his head, "Hey old man, how are ya?" She gave him his treat and headed down the hall towards her room. She could hear the faint sounds of the TV in the other room, she smiled, it was hockey season after all, must be the Flyers and Capitals. The Flyers schedule was posted on the refrigerator and followed with religious fervor in their home. She stood in the doorway to the first bedroom on the left, five year old Liam and Connor were both asleep in bed, but not _their_ beds however, Liam was in Connors and vice versa. Identical down to the last freckle, they found it endlessly amusing to try and fool their parents and family by pretending to be each other. She always indulged them and played along; she didn't want them to know that she had been able to tell them apart from the minute they were born. Going quietly into their room, she kneeled in between their beds and pulled their blankets up slightly, putting her hands on their soft blonde curls, her eyes full of love. She turned and pulled the door partially closed and continued on into her own room.

She slipped out of her high heels and put them away quietly. Tip toeing over to the crib in the corner, she peeked over the railing and looked inside, it was empty and she was a little surprised. It was awfully late for Parker to be awake. She put her bag down and went through the room to the hallway leading down to the sunken living room. She stood in the hallway entrance and saw that her daughter was sitting in an armchair in the corner, one leg tucked under the other, striped socked foot tapping absently to a rhythm only she could hear brown hair in a ponytail, completely focused on the book in her lap. She smiled softly, not only was Christy the only one of the four of their children that looked like her, she had the same temperament, studious, quiet and curious.

Tempe entered the room and walked up behind the long, leather couch. Seeley was sitting in the corner of the sofa, fatigue pants still on and a tan t-shirt, the only thing not military was his striped socks. Everyone in the house was like him there; they all had a sock thing. Resting in his arms, his tiny head on his dad's shoulder, Parker was sound asleep. He had little striped socks of his own and a Flyers skull cap was visible above the blue blanket he was wrapped up in. "Hi boys" she said quietly, Seeley glanced up and mouthed, "Hi babe." Walking over to her daughter, she looked over her shoulder, and tucked a stray hair behind her ear, "What are you reading Christy?" she asked.

"It's a book I found in your office, I've read all mine a hundred times so dad said I could look in your office."

"What's it about?" Tempe recognized the book immediately, a red faux leather journal; she knew exactly what it was.

"She said it was a fairytale, something about a football player and a nerd" Seeley said, looking over at his wife and daughter quickly before returning to his hockey game.

"Yes, I recognize it, what do you think of it hon?" she said perching on the arm of the chair. "I like it, I really do" Christy said, her blue eyes just as brilliant, looking up at her mom.

"I'm glad honey, why don't you stop reading for now; you can finish it later, go get ready up for bed okay?"

"Okay Mom"

Tempe went over to sit next to her husband, taking the baby carefully from his arms, she asked, "Was he fussy?" Tucking him into her arms, she sat down on the opposite end of the couch and tucked her stocking feet up under his leg.

"Yeah, I put him down, fed, warm and dry and then he just started fussing about and whimpering and stuff, so I brought him out here to watch the game with his old man. You know what is weird though?"

"What's that Big Man?" She asked, already knowing that which he wasn't ready to admit. "He stopped fussing and went right to sleep as soon as the Capitals went ahead in the score. You don't think he's a Capitals fan do you?"

"Well Seeley, it was bound to happen, you can't win them all." She said with a grin on her face.

"I bet he's going to be an Eagles fan too…" he grumbled.

She reached over with her free hand and patted his arm, "It'll be okay, we're all still Steelers fans Seeley, you'll be okay I promise"

He looked over and gave her the smile she loved the most. No matter that he was 19 years older than the boy she fell in love with, he never looked like he had aged at all. Still fit and trim, muscular he could melt her heart with just a smile or a touch. He was graying slightly at his temples, but his eyes still sparkled like they did when he was 18. He'd stayed in the Army and was contracted by agencies all over the country to train their recruits in weaponry. The FBI, CIA and others all hired him to do their training and the Army turned out to have been a very good career choice for him.

Christy came back in and hugged and kissed her dad for bed, holding her fist out for him to bump they repeated the same bedtime ritual they'd had ever since she was old enough to speak.

"In my sleep" he started.

"I can see you"

"In my sleep"

"I can be with you"

"In my sleep"

"You are with me"

"In my sleep"

"I can feel no pain"

"In my sleep"

"I can feel no fear"

"In my sleep"

"I can feel the warmth of you"

"In my sleep"

"Is the best time for me" she finished.

Smiling her hugged her tight and then she hugged her mom and kissed her finger placing it on Parker's forehead, "Night baby" she whispered heading to her room. As she walked out, Tempe said, "Christy, would you bring me that book you were reading? Please?"

"Sure Mom" she brought it over and handed it to her.

Seeley took a look at it briefly and then went back to the game. It was almost over and most definitely in the bag for the Capitals. Sighing, he turned the sound off and looked at his wife and son.

"You don't mind that I let her read that do you?" he asked.

"No, in fact, I expected her to read it, or at least ask about it at some point"

"Really? Some fairytale about a football player and a nerd? Sounds kinda dumb to me" he said.

"Hmmm…you think so? I happen to think it's a very nice story, it's full of all kinds of highs and lows and drama and suspense. Plus it has some pretty graphic details in it" she winked at him.

He took the book out of her hand and began to read, one page in, he put the book down and said, "this all sounds very familiar, almost like I know this football player and _nerd_" smiling at her, he stood and put the book back on the end table by the sofa.

She attempted to stand and he took their son out of her arms for her. Once she stood he leaned down and kissed her, the baby held tightly in his strong arms, "graphic details huh?" he asked softly, looking into her eyes.

"Very graphic details" she said, stepping closer to him.

"Maybe we should put the baby to sleep" he said, nuzzling her cheek to her neck.

"Why would we do that?" she breathed.

"Because, I'd like to see if I remember any of these 'graphic details', want to join me Bone Lady?"

"Oh yes Big Man, I'd love to."

She followed him, turning off the TV and the lights, making sure the front door was locked, she watched him gently place Parker in his crib, standing over him he whispered, "Sleep baby sleep" he walked over to the bed, and she watched him from the shadows of the bathroom door, he pulled the t-shirt over his head, and threw it in the hamper, he unbuckled his pants and pulled them off as well, the whole time she was admiring his broad shoulders, strong legs and muscular arms. Feeling her gaze on him, he turned and flexed slightly, "Like what you see?" he winked, his eyes starting to darken.

"Oh yeah" she said, licking her bottom lip.

"What are you waiting for Mrs. Booth?" he asked

"Nothing, I'll be right out" she said closing the bedroom door. She got out of her work clothes and undid the bun on the top of her head, letting her hair tumble halfway down her back. Checking to see that her necklace was still secure, she held the glass slipper in her hand and said "Thank you, I love my husband, I love my kids and I love my family, thank you whoever you are" as she did every night. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she didn't see the same girl that he swore that she was. Although still trim and fit, even after 4 kids, she could see the fine lines, but he said she was just as pretty now as she was at 16. Smiling at her reflection and thinking of her good fortune, she pulled a kimono on and went into the bedroom where her husband, her Seeley was waiting for her.

He watched her come out of the bathroom, wearing the silk kimono he'd brought back from Korea for her years ago, her hair was long now, longer than it had ever been. She caught his eye in the candlelight that was flickering around the room. He loved to see that look. Removing the sash, she let the robe drop and he caught his breath. She was incredible. The only thing she was wearing was the glass slipper pendant he'd bought her all those years ago, it still caught the light and the facets winked and danced at the base of her throat. "You're beautiful Tempe" he said, swallowing the lump in his throat. She never seemed to age to him and it never ceased to amaze him. Patting the bed, he said, "Come here little one, I'd like to talk about graphic details"

She slid into the bed and into his arms, lying there she looked into his eyes, which had darkened to almost black, "Do you love me?" she asked.

"Yes, want me to show you?" he whispered back, tucking some hair behind her ear while he gently stroked her face.

"Only if you want to"

He pulled her tighter into his arms and made love to her, when they were both sufficiently satisfied, they lay in bed talking, and both of them loved this part of their nights together. She shivered slightly, and he got out of bed and checked on Parker and then grabbed his t-shirt from the hamper and gave it to her, putting it on, she lay back against the headboard and pillows. Seeley climbed into bed and pulled the comforter up; he was on his stomach, his head pillowed on her chest. Toying slightly with the frayed edge of the t-shirt, he was lost in thought; she was slowly tracing patterns across his back when he said quietly, "Would you change anything?"

"Change anything about what Seeley?"

He motioned with his hand slightly, "This…us?"

She was silent for a long time, so long that he got a little nervous, she had the power to do that to him sometimes, he could sit for hours and wait to get off a shot, but if she was quiet for any length of time after a question, he would start to get twitchy. "No, I wouldn't change a thing. Not one. You?"

Answering quickly he said, "I wouldn't have waited so long to fall in love with you"

Laughing quietly, she leaned down and kissed the top of his head, "and how long exactly did you wait?"

"Too long" he said, sliding up her body and kissing her, before rolling over to his back and pulling her into the crook of his arm. "I love you Bone Lady" he said quietly, holding her close to him, "I love our kids, our family, everything. You're still the first thing I think of in the morning and the last thing I think of at night, thank you for everything"

She smiled and looked up, "Thank you right back Big Man, I love you too, you and the kids are everything I ever wanted out of my fairytale."

He held her tight and the two of them fell asleep, both thinking back to that windy day by the bleachers where their lives were put into motion and propelled to this place in time.

*****I'd planned on doing a couple of more mature and alternate chapters on this site, if anyone is interested, let me know and I'll get them up before I close this story for good…Thank you for all the support! It was fun to write and I'm glad people enjoyed reading it! MK*****


	34. Chapter 86 revisited

Tempe came out of the bathroom and locked the door from her side, going to her bedroom door she shut and locked it as well. Seeing him standing by her bed holding the picture, she said softly, "Seeley?" Turning, he simply stared. She'd let her hair grow and it was down past her shoulders, she had changed into a pink, sleeveless camisole top and matching pink shorts. Setting down the picture he walked over to her and held her in his arms. He leaned down and kissed her softly before standing up and gently pulling his fingers through her long hair. "You look beautiful, so sweet and innocent" he said. Smiling she took his hand and led him to the table, "Well, I wanted tonight to be special, but I didn't know how to do that, so I hope this works?"

"Oh it works" he told her. He'd realized what she was doing almost immediately, he knew that she wanted to run this show and he wasn't going to do anything to rush her. He could feel it, tonight was a big night and he'd do whatever she wanted him to. The two of them sat down and began to eat, they talked quietly about graduation, the other picture slide shows, and how it had all seemed to happen so fast. They specifically avoided any mention of how short their time was. When he was done eating and she'd managed to push her food around her plate a couple of hundred times, he said quietly, "What's wrong little one?"

"I want you to stay Seeley. I hate that about myself, but I'm selfish. I need you to stay here. With me. Let someone else go fight for this country, I just want you to stay. I've been by your side almost every day for the past 10 months and I can't imagine what it's going to be like when you aren't there. I can't text you, call you or touch you and I hate it!" She tried hard to squelch the tears that gathered in her lashes and fell softly down her cheeks, but failed. He stood up and came around to her side of the table, taking her hand and helping her stand, he held her in his arms, tight against his chest. He said, "I want to stay too Tempe, I do, but I can't. You're not being selfish, you have every right to be mad and I'm glad you are. It tells me that we have a chance. I don't know what I'm going to do not being able to talk to you anytime I want to. I'll write to you when I can, during basic we can't have any contact for the first few weeks, but when we can, I'll burn up the phone lines, the internet everything." He'd started to cry too and she turned her face up to him and kissed him.

Their tears mingling, he picked her up in his arms and carried her over to the bed, laying her down carefully, he took his suit jacket off and started to take off his tie, when she got onto her knees and said quietly, "let me" she carefully untied his tie and unbuttoned his shirt, pushing it off of his shoulders carefully and slowly. Then she lay back down and he lay beside her, softly kissing her, touching her face and tracing his fingers down her arm and side. She stopped kissing him and stared at him, her eyes bright from the tears and putting her hand in his said softly, "I love you Seeley, and I'm ready."

"Are you sure Temperance, you don't have to do this." He said back, equally as soft. She smiled and said, "Once a long time ago you told me to stop telling you what you had to do and now I'm saying it to you, I know what I have to do and what I don't. I want to do this and I will" she kissed his bottom lip and laid her head back on the pillow. Looking at her, seeing his love reflected in her eyes Seeley dipped his head to hers and kissed her lips. His kiss was soft and tender, slowly he increased the pressure of his mouth all the while, softly stroking her hair. She'd wrapped her fingers in his short hair as best she could and pulled his head down hard to hers. She nipped his bottom lip causing him to open his mouth slightly, and she probed his tongue with hers. The two of them were fighting for dominance in the kiss when he abruptly stopped and moved to her cheek and jaw, pressing soft kisses along her face to her neck. When his mouth took him to the hollow of her throat, he bit slightly and then soothed the nip with his tongue. When his teeth pinched her skin she moaned and arched her back bring her hips into contact with his. He slid his legs over so that only his torso was covering hers and continued to kiss and nip her neck. Tempe was melting into the comforter, trying desperately to bring his mouth back to hers. "No Tempe, I'm going to lead this, just relax and trust me" he whispered into her mouth as he kissed her and then moved his head back down to her throat.

She ran her hands down his strong back to the bottom hem of his shirt and pulled it up, realizing her intent, he sat up, positioning himself over her, a leg on either side of her hips and he undid the buttons. His hands were barely moving and his eyes were locked on hers. He nearly lost his focus when her small pink tongue licked her bottom lip as he tortured her with the removal of his shirt. When he'd taken it off his shoulders and was just wearing a white tank top, she put her hands on the top and pushed it up over his tight abs to his defined pectorals. Her hands warm on his skin and leaving trails of heat. She sat up slightly, still pinned under him and kissed his chest, licking his nipples before latching on to one and sucking slightly. He leaned back and groaned and pulled the tank top off, before gently easing her back down onto her back. He slid down so his face was hovering above her breasts, his arm stretched over his head, fingers curling into her hair.

His other hand was sliding under her camisole top, intent on removing it. He relished the feel of her tight stomach against his hand, and she moaned aloud at the sensation his rough hand had on her sensitive skin. He was moving too slow for her, so she ripped her own top off and moved his hand to her breast. Covering it completely, his hand was so warm on the tender flesh and as he took the nipple of her left breast between his thumb and forefinger she arched her back again, trying to give him the access they both desired. "Oh Seeley" she moaned, "What are you waiting for?" she asked petulantly as he had barely dipped his head to taste the tightening bud. His tongue rasped over and around each nipple before he committed to suckling one and stroking the other.

His warm mouth on one of her most sensitive area's was almost enough to have her crying for release, taking his hand she forced it into her shorts, to the bundle of nerves between her legs begging to be stroked and manipulated by his strong fingers. He chuckled slightly, "Slow down baby, we have all night" he said against her breast as he continued to trace the contours with his tongue.

"Seeley, I don't want to wait anymore" she said, her voice hoarse with desire.

"I'm not going to rush this Tempe, you and I have both wanted this for a long long time and I'm going to show you how good it can be, be patient, I promise it'll be worth it" he told her, leaning back and looking into her eyes. She closed them and arched again, forcing his hand to press down on her mound. He hissed and slid his fingers under her panties, dripping wet her folds were so slick and hot. He pulled his hand out of her pants and gently slid her shorts down her long legs, trailing hot kisses down the outside of her legs until the shorts were removed. Sitting at the base of the bed, he looked at this girl, her eyes bright, skin slightly flushed, breasts taut with need and nipples tight and straining, her white cotton panties soaked with her desire for him.

He slid off the bed and stood at the foot and unbuckled his belt, his own body demanding to be stroked and teased. Pushing his pants down, he shucked them off and stood there in tight boxer shorts, his cock pushing against the cotton fabric and begging to be released. Tempe quickly sat up and crawled on her knees to him, grabbing his hips she pulled him close to her and pushed his shorts down, his dick free from its restraints, rock hard and throbbing stood at full attention. Tempe wasted no time; she grasped his shaft and groaned aloud at the taste of his pre cum on her tongue. Seeley's entire body tensed as she took him in her mouth, softer than velvet, her mouth was hot as she swirled her tongue down his entire length, slightly pulling him back towards the bed with her mouth. He allowed her to suck once, twice both times making his toes curl with want, before he put his hands on her shoulders and made her release him.

Both of them felt the same sense of loss when her mouth left his cock, but he wanted to do this his way and he knew if he let her continue on, he'd never be able to stop from coming his brains out in her mouth. Tonight wasn't about merely being satisfied, tonight they were crossing a bridge and he wanted to be the one to lead her across that bridge. Gently pressing her shoulders back, he whispered, "Lie back baby" she looked up, her eyes hurt, "Seeley, why won't you let me…" her question was cut off by his mouth on hers, "I'll let you do whatever you want, I promise baby, this time is for you though, okay?" he said, his eyes drowning in her ocean depths. Nodding, she slid back on her butt and lay back down, her back against the pillows, her legs splayed slightly.

He knelt on the bed and crawled towards her, his mouth trailing kisses along the path his hand took as he stroked his way up her inner leg, to the inside of her thigh where he licked and nipped. "Oh Seeley" she moaned, as he kissed the dewey wet vee of her panties. Sucking the cotton into his mouth, he tasted her sweetness through the material and she mewled and pressed his head down. Not giving in, he traced her panty line with his tongue, never once lingering at any one spot, but constantly teasing and torturing her. Tempe's head thrashed back and forth as he kissed her pussy, avoiding the one spot she wanted his mouth, no amount of pressure from her hands made any difference, he simply reached up and caught both wrists in one hand and held them steady while he kissed her thighs and the curls where they met.

When he knew that neither one of them could take much more of the torture, he used his free hand to hook the panties off her hips and slid them down her long, smooth legs. Running his hand back up, he reached under her and elevated her tight ass slightly, and laying on his stomach between her legs, with her ass slightly elevated, he wasted no time and slid his tongue between her warm lips, taking her clit into his mouth he sucked softly at first and then with more pressure, causing her hips to buck and her whole body to tense. "Whoah, baby slow down" he whispered, "you can't cum yet" he told her, his hot breath exquisite torture on her clit. He licked at her warm opening and slid his tongue in and out, alternating his finger at the same time.

"Oh god, oh god oh Seeley" she panted, "I can't stop, you…" Knowing she was close, he slowed down, and removed his finger, putting his hands on either side of her hips, he brought his body up over hers and then rested his himself half on her, half supported by his arm by her head. Dipping his head, he kissed her deeply, letting her taste herself on his mouth, she arched into him again and when her leg came into contact with his own desire, he hissed against her mouth.

She opened her eyes and looked at him, this boy, this man that she loved and snaked her hand down to him. Grasping his cock in her hand, she encircled him and brought her hand from the base, to the hard sack below. She rolled his balls in her palm and squeezed slightly before quickly stroking all the way to his head. Feeling more cum on the head of his dick, she rasped her thumb over the wet slit, eliciting a moan from him, "Seeley, I need this" she said against his mouth. He knew he needed it too and slid down so that his cock was positioned at her swollen entrance. Putting his hand over hers and bringing it back up her body he said, "This is going to hurt and I'm sorry." His eyes were dark with desire, but there was also a bit of apprehension in them, and she whispered back, "Go slow Seeley" she wasn't scared; she knew it would hurt; she just needed to feel him inside of her. Her body was begging for the release she'd denied for so long.

Taking himself in his hand, he kept his eyes on hers as he slowly pressed himself against the hot, wet opening of her pussy. Her lips spread as he gently slid in, just the head. She gasped and tensed immediately causing him to stop, "Are you sure" he asked, knowing he would stop immediately if she asked, but praying that she didn't. She licked her lips, eyes still locked on his and nodded mutely. Carefully, he dropped his hips and slid further in; he brought his hand back up to her head and wrapped both hands in her hair. With each inch that he entered her, his cock seemed to get harder and harder, she was so tight and hot that every nerve ending in his body was screaming for him to plunge himself in deeper and deeper.

He felt resistance and wasn't sure whether to continue when she reached both hands down and grabbed his ass, pulling him in with a strength that he didn't know she possessed he was buried to the hilt in one movement. She arched and moaned and tensed at the sudden sharp pain and the sense of fullness. He could feel the muscles in her inner walls twitching around his dick and expanding to allow him full access. Every flutter of her body against his made both of them feel as though they were going to explode. Simply inside her, not moving, his cock twitching slightly, he whispered, "are you okay?" she opened her eyes and said, "Yes, please Seeley…I need something…I don't"

"Shhh Little One" he soothed, his mouth on hers, as he began to slowly rock his hips, sliding in and out she cried out, "Oh god" her hands on his back, her hips rising to meet him. He tried to go slow, he knew that she deserved it, but her body was so hot, so wet and so tight, he wasn't able to control himself and plunged harder and faster, his own back arched, eyes closed as he enjoyed the feeling of her body milking his cock with each thrust. The friction between them made the thrusts hard and soft at the same time. She cried out slightly and he opened his eyes and looked down, her head was thrust back, eyes closed, a tear pooling in the corner of one. Slowing his thrusts, he started to pull out when she opened her eyes and grabbed his ass, pulling him back in, "don't stop Seeley, oh god don't stop" she panted.

"You're crying" he said, barely able to breathe and talk at the same time, he was about to explode inside of her and wanted nothing more, but not if she couldn't explode with him. "Seeley, this feels too good, don't stop, please oh god don't stop" she said, encouraging him with her hands. Feeling her pussy tighten around him, he groaned and leaned down to kiss her, pistoning his hips into her harder and harder until both of them were incoherent and we're both speaking in tongues, when he couldn't hold it any longer he panted, "Oh god baby, I'm gonna cum, I can't…"

"Take me with you Seeley!" she cried and arched her hips tighter into his. That was it, he lost complete control and felt his cock erupt inside of her, his balls were tight and she came with him, both of them riding a wave of need and desire, her body thirsty for his and draining him with each flex of his dick. He buried his head in the hollow of her neck and continued to lightly thrust, each time feeling the walls of her contract against him and pull him deeper and deeper inside of her. When he was drained and his arms were trembling with the effort of not crushing her, he collapsed on top of her, still joined, twin shocks speeding through both their bodies.

She kissed his shoulder, his neck, everywhere that she could reach with her mouth, her hands sliding up his back, slick with sweat and when he turned his head to hers, he captured her lips and kissed her back, gently, the passion moving from white hot to a slow burn. "Are you okay?" he asked, still inside her, still hard, he pushed the damp hair from her face and looked into her eyes.

"I've never been better Seeley, that was amazing… Thank you" she whispered, tears springing to her eyes.

"Why are you crying?" he asked, starting to slide out of her in concern.

"Stop" she said stopping him from moving. She never wanted to lose that feeling of fullness from their connection. "I'm glad it was you, that's why I'm crying, I love you" she said.

"I love you too Temperance" he whispered, brushing his fingers over her forehead. He slid out of her slowly and gently, stopping when she winced slightly. "I'm sorry I hurt you baby" he said.

"Never be sorry, you didn't hurt me" she told him.

He leaned up and grabbed the shirt he'd hastily discarded earlier and held it out to her, "Not to ruin the moment, but you may need this" he told her, blushing.

She blushed herself and told him to close his eyes, "Really? After that, now you're shy?" he smiled.

"Yes, now do it" she told him, sliding out the bed. She checked the sheets and saw the tell tale sign of what had happened and smiled to herself. She'd finally understood what all the excitement was about and she loved it. Going into her bathroom, she cleaned herself up, wincing slightly at the soreness between her legs and then pulling a t-shirt over her head, she went back to the bed. Seeley had removed the sheets and lay the comforter back down, he'd gotten a blanket from the closet and was sitting under it, shirtless and smiling, "Feel better?" he asked.

"Much, now, let's see what we can do about you" she said, turning off the light and advancing towards him and the bed.

"Already?" he asked, pulling the blanket back.

"I want to make tonight last Seeley, you're leaving and I want the memories to sustain me while you're gone" she said quietly. Taking her in his arms, he smiled and said, "So do I Tempe, I love you".

The two of them began that age old dance and spent the evening wrapped in each other's arms. They spent the next full day alone in her room and tried to make enough memories to last them through the long uncertain time up ahead.

Reluctantly after spending the night and the entire next day together, locked in her room, eating leftovers and making love, talking and holding each other he had to go and spend his last day in town with his grandpa and brother. She was going to spend the next day with Angela and then see him off at the airport. She knew he had to say goodbye to his family, but all she wanted him to do was stay with her. Knowing that it was like taking off a band aid, he got up and got dressed before she woke up and would make him stay. He kissed her softly on the forehead and said, "I'll see you tomorrow Bone Lady. I love you." And then he left. She was awake when he kissed her forehead, but didn't want to open her eyes. That would make his leaving her too real. She simply waited to hear the door shut and then she cried. She cried for all the time they would lose and because she already missed him. Pulling the pillow close, she inhaled his scent and cried herself into a troubled sleep. Angela came home and went straight to her room where she found her, eyes puffy from crying sitting on her bed, holding Booth and simply staring. "Oh Sweetie, it's going to be ok. You'll see him off tomorrow and then before you know it, he'll be done with basic." Tempe started to cry again at her soft words and Angela reached over and held her. She started to cry too and the two of them simply sat and rocked back and forth and tried to comfort each other.

Seeley had gone home and played Guitar Hero with his brother, and the two of them talked about what he would need to do while he was gone. Hank was getting older and although nowhere near unable to care for his teenage grandson, Seeley just wanted Jared to keep his eyes open and take care of him too. They connected in a way that they hadn't in years, since before they'd come to live with Hank and all they had was each other. "Are you going to say goodbye to mom?" Jared asked as he and Seeley stood on the back porch over the grill and the cooking burgers. Hank was inside, making a salad and trying hard not to cry that his grandson would be gone this time tomorrow. "I think that ship has sailed little brother" he said, "I've said goodbye to the important people in my life already." He reached over and hugged his brother close. "Take care of everybody while I'm gone okay? Call Tempe once in a while, she'll need to hear from us, maybe see if she'll come over to see Pops." He didn't want to get all mushy on his brother, but he wanted him to know how much he cared.

"I will Seel, I will." The burgers were done, and they took them in and the three Booth men spent the night playing dominoes and talking. At midnight Hank told them both to go to bed, they had to be at the airport at 8 the next morning. Jared hugged his brother and tried hard not to cry as he went upstairs; Hank took Seeley into his arms and hugged him tight, "I'm proud of you Shrimp. Prouder of you than I have ever been, I hope you know that. You've become a great man already, and I can't wait to see how much better you'll be when you get back. Keep your head up, be smart and trust yourself. Okay?" he'd stood back and was looking up at his grandson. This boy had become a man overnight it seemed.

"I will Pops, thank you." He couldn't say more, he hugged him back and cried. Patting his back, Hank knew that he was ready to go even if he couldn't see it yet. "Go upstairs, get some sleep and I'll wake you in the morning" Hank said stepping back from him.

Seeley took the stairs two at a time, suddenly desperate to talk to Tempe. Not caring that it was midnight he called her and when she sleepily answered the phone he said, "Hi babe."

"Seeley" She sighed, once again on the verge of tears. "Hi"

"I'm going to sleep, I just had to hear your voice" he told her, holding the phone as close to his ear as he could. "I need to hear it." he whispered to her his voice heavy with emotion.

"I know the feeling" she said. The two of them talked about nothing for the next hour and half and then realizing that she was fading with each long silence, he finally said, "I love you, I'll see you in the morning okay Tempe?"

"I love you too Seeley, I'll see you in my dreams" and she hung up. Holding the phone against his chest he leaned back on his headboard and when the sun came up and through the blinds in the morning he was still sitting there. He'd slept fitfully, desperately trying to memorize everything. Hank came upstairs at 6:45 and knocked on his door, "I'm up Pops" he said.

"Breakfast downstairs Shrimp" was all he said, his voice gruffer than usual. Sighing Seeley stood and took a shower, dressing in jeans and a t-shirt, he headed downstairs. Jared was down there, wide eyed although barely awake. They didn't speak much at breakfast, just absorbed the enormity of the day. All too soon it was time to go to the airport and Seeley drove his Explorer there and parked. Tossing the keys to Jared, he said, "She's all yours kid, take care of her." Jared caught the keys and put them in his pocket. He smiled at his brother and nodded, "I will." The three of them walked into the terminal and Seeley was surprised to see Wendell, Fischer, Alana, Max, Zach, Tatum, Grayson, LaNiecy and Marie there as well as Billy. Angela was holding a sign that said, "Good luck Big Man" on it along with a drawing of him in a uniform he didn't even have yet. He smiled broadly at his friends and family but his eyes were only on one thing. Temperance. She was standing next to Max and Angela, wearing his jersey and jeans, her eyes were rimmed with red and he could tell she'd been crying most of the morning. Dropping his bag he jogged over to her and picked her up. Everyone watched knowing this was going to be the hardest part of the day. He kissed her hard and then softer, never once letting her feet touch the ground.

Other new recruits had been arriving around them, and there were farewells going on everywhere. There was an announcement for boarding and everyone started to head to the gate, the soon to be soldiers didn't have to go through the same stringent security requirements that the rest of the passengers did, so their families were allowed to accompany them right up to the gate. People stared at his entourage, more than one recognizing Billy, but they were conscientious enough to let him alone. One by one all of his friends shook his hand or hugged him, wishing him well and telling him they'd see him when he came home from basic. Soon it was down to him and the two most important girls in his life. Angela hugged him tight and said, "Be careful Big Man, we need you here" and she stepped back, he leaned back down and kissed her cheek and hugged her again, whispering in her ear he said, "Thank you Ange, for everything, take care of her okay? She's going to need you." Patting his back she assured him that she would and then she turned to everyone and said, "Let's go" knowing that he needed to say good bye to her privately, they all turned and headed back into the main terminal.

Seeley held her close as she cried. "Come home" was all she said and when the final boarding call was made; he kissed her softly for the last time and told her he would. She watched him walk through the doors and then went to the glass to watch the plane leave. She didn't know if he could see her or not, but she stood there until the plane left the tarmac and was a blur in the sky. Angela came and took her hand, and the two of them walked into the bright sunshine. "He'll be okay Sweetie" She said.

"Will I?" Tempe said back as the two of them walked to the waiting car and the rest of their lives. Tempe settled into the back of the car as Tatum drove away from the airport, she held the glass slipper in her hand and said to herself, "I love you Seeley Joseph Booth, you'll always be Prince Charming to me" and stared out the window, wondering if he was doing the same thing.

In the air, Seeley looked towards the ground. He couldn't see anything that far away, but knew in his heart, she was looking up at him he said, "I'll be back before you know it princess."


End file.
